St.
John the Baptist Church is a beautiful village
church built of local sandstone. It dates from
the early 13th century and is said to be the
oldest building in Mamble. Features of the 13th
century church can still be seen in the nave,
aisle, chancel, font and the western chamber
which supports the timber belfry.
The
church has a wooden spire, the upper part covered
with oak shingles and is surmounted by an
octagonal broach spire. Beneath the wooden spire
lies the original open timber framed structure of
the bell turret. It originally stood
independently of the church and then later
enclosed in a stone surround. The lower part of
the bell turret is a magnificent example of 13th
century carpentry using wood from the Wyre Forest.
The massive corner posts of oak, measuring over
one foot square, rise each in one piece to near
the apex of the roof, and are braced by a system
of cross-struts. It is believed to be one of the
oldest unaltered timber structures in the country.
The
bell turret is separated from the rest of the
church by a gabled, half-timbered partition with
a projecting canopy above which the village
orchestra played in the Minstrel's Gallery. Down
below, the north wall has a tall Crusader Door.
The doorway was made high enough to allow a
mounted crusader knight to enter the church,
without dismounting his horse, in order to
receive a blessing before departing on a crusade.
The
chancel arch is a fine example of late Norman masonry skill with
it's capitals carved with stiff leaves. In the east window of
the chancel, above the altar, is a well preserved piece of 14th
century stained glass which simply depicts the Crucifixion. It
is believed that the villagers removed the church windows during
the Civil War, fearing their destruction by the Parliamentarian
Roundheads, and hid them in the muck heap at Hall Farm. Upon restoration
of the monarchy only one of the hidden windows
remained intact to be replaced above the altar.
A
most unusual feature is the 16th century addition
of a brick Roman Catholic chapel to an Anglican
church. It was built by the Blounts, the local
landowners, as a family mortuary chapel and
indicates that they were an important Catholic
family. The chapel is on the north side of the
church and was accessed from the chancel. The
internal decoration was plain with a flat
plastered ceiling and plastered walls.
Externally, the walls were constructed of red
brick, with blue brick diapering, contrasting
starkly with the sandstone used by the Normans.
Following the death of the last Blount to live
locally the chapel was neglected and fell into
disrepair and the access from the church was
eventually blocked off. It is possible to see
into the now roofless chapel through two windows
inserted in the chapel walls in the 18th century.
One of the blocked original 16th century windows
can also be seen.
The
church contains many monuments some dating from
before the reformation. In the north east corner
of the chancel is an unusual late 13th century
effigy of a cross legged knight wearing his
helmet and with his arms lying by his sides which
is a memorial to the Mortimers, the Lords
Marchers. In the floor of the east chancel is a
memorial brass with the figures of a man wearing
plate armour, which appears to be John Blount who
died in 1510, with his wife and dog. Between the
two windows in the south wall is a fine early 14th
century tomb recess. In the recess is a full
sized recumbent human skeleton which used to lay
on top of the tomb chest of Thomas Blount, who
died in 1561, which was originally in the brick
chapel. On the walls and in the floor are many
other tablets and slabs placed in memory of both
the Meysey family and other members of the Blount
family.
In
1880 the church was restored and the south aisle
extended to form an organ chamber and vestry
opening out of the chancel. The church is
currently undergoing further restoration work in
order to stabilise the structure into the 21st
century and the church tower has recently been
dated to 1214. The restoration is jointly funded
by English
Heritage
and money raised by the local community who
appreciate any fund raising assistance that can
be offered.
|
Mamble
Village Home Page
