HISTORY
St.
George`s Church is a Grade One Listed Building, situated in the middle of a
conservation area.
The first church was built on the site in the 1200`s. It was a Gothic “Decorated”
church. Within the first 100 years the body of the church was destroyed by fire
and the present nave, with its enlarged aisles was built. The original east
walls of the “Decorated” aisles are incorporated in the present ones. The
only parts of the original church to survive are the chancel, the chancel arch
and the tower. The east window still displays the original tracery.
During
the rebuilding of the nave in the 1400s, Gothic “perpendicular” windows were
inserted in the side walls of the chancel and the ground floor of the tower. At
the same time, an octagonal corona and a long, thin spire were built on the
tower. The design was probably inspired by the belfry of
FEATURES
The
church contains many carved works on the stonework and the opinion is that half
were carved by a conventional, ecclesiastic carver, the others by an irreverant
joker. A lot of fun can be had when studying the carvings carefully.
The tower used to contain six bells, four of which date back to 1630 and the
other two from 1778. The tenor bell weighs over 12 cwt. In 1999 these bells and
two new ones were rehung and dedicated in time for the Millennium celebrations
and are now rung regularly after forty years of silence.
The church clock is a fine example of 17th century workmanship and has an
unusual continental style pin-wheel escapement. An interesting feature of the
clock is the spring which supports the pendulum — this is an ordinary kitchen
knife (complete with handle) which was fitted by Mr Fred Merrick in about 1934 and still works perfectly.
The
clock has ticked away contentedly to itself virtually undisturbed for over three
hundred years, but sadly in 1999 the clock had its weights and most of its
winding gear removed and replaced by two electric motors. In doing this the
clock has been robbed of much of its unique character.
In the north aisle is a brass of Sir Adam de Clifton which has a sad history.
Legend has it that in 1680 a rogue sexton sold Sir Adam`s brass to a passing
tinker. Eventually the tinker was found and the parts of the brass which had not
been sold were recovered, only to rest in the parish chest for two centuries. In
1860 the new incumbent John Denny Gedge, with some help, remounted the brass on
the wall where he now stands minus various parts.
ACCESS
Due to sporadic vandalism the church is presently locked except at weekends. A notice is displayed on the church notice board giving details of how access may be obtained at other times.
SERVICES
1st,
2nd and 3rd Sundays Holy Communion 9.30 am
4th Sunday Family Service combined
with Methodists at alternating venues.
CHURCHWARDENS
Mr
N Guyer
Dr I Nisbet
VICAR: