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Bassingham: St Michael & All Angels
he Domesday
Book (1086) reports, “there is a church there and a priest.” Surviving
presumably from this pre-Norman church are two sizeable fragments of stone,
carved with a decoration of interlaced cable; they now stand to the right of the
altar. There is also an original small round-headed 11th century window on the
north side of the tower, which lights the circular staircase of the same period.
The greater part of the tower was rebuilt in 1782, with bell openings of
single-shafted lights in Early English style. Otherwise, the oldest parts of the
present-day church are Norman: the columns and capitals of the north arcade and
the columns of the south arcade, and the westernmost semicircular arch of the
north arcade, facing you as you enter from the south porch, date from the
twelfth century. The other two similar arches, each with a different
Norman-style pattern, are 19th century reconstructions.
The
south arcade arches are 13th century, as are the parts of the chancel: the
tracery of the huge five-light east window, the south windows and the unusually
high priest’s doorway were incorporated in the rebuild of the chancel as part
of the major restoration of 1860. This is when the windows, parapet and
pinnacles were added to the Decorated embattled clerestory with its gallery of
gargoyles. The
lovely glass in the east window by W. F. Zettler of Munich was installed in
1939. It shows St Michael flanked by the archangels Gabriel and Raphael. The two
small windows in the south lady chapel, also by Zettler, show the Annunciation
and the Garden of Gethsemane and were installed in 1948 and 1949. The carved
wooden alms box has the date 1668. The Terrier for 1707 records four bells without any detail and that for 1822 records five bells. The ring of five bells cast by Henry Oldfield II in1770 was recast and a new treble added by Taylors of Loughborough in 1926. The inscriptions on the old bells were reproduced in facsimile. A new low-sided frame was also installed and the bells were rehung with all new fittings including ‘Hastings’ stays and ball bearings.
Inscription band: William Rollinson and John Marfleet Church; wardens; 1770 (decoration) Waist: Taylors RECAST 1926 Since 1998, the church has a seventh bell: the ship’s bell from HMS Bassingham, an inshore minesweeper, presented by her former commander after she was decommissioned. It hangs in a fine mahogany bell hood in the north aisle and is rung to signal the start of Sunday worship. Stan Underwood August 2005 |
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