Details
PURLEIGH CHURCH HILL
TL 80 SW
(south side)
1/87 Parish Church of All
11.53 Saints
GV I
Parish church. Mainly C14, restored in C19. Ragstone, septaria, dressed flint
and yellow brick, with dressings of limestone and clunch. Porch of red brick in
English bond. Roofed with handmade red clay tiles. Chancel, Nave, N and S
aisles, and W tower, all rebuilt in the C14, beginning at the E end, but the
irregular plan suggests an earlier origin, of which some fabric may survive at
the W end of the Nave and S aisle. S porch c.1500. N and W walls of the N
aisle rebuilt in the C18. Restored in C19, when the chancel-arch, the upper
part of the S arcade, and parts of the aisle walls were rebuilt. The Chancel is
of coursed squared ragstone with complete courses at irregular intervals of
small yellow bricks, possibly Flemish, which are also used in the original
window arches. The C14 E window is of 4 cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a
2-centred head with moulded rear-arch and labels. In the N wall are 2 C14
windows, each of 2 cinquefoiled lights with a sexfoil in a 2-centred head with
wave-moulded rear-arch and moulded labels. Between them is a C14 tomb-recess,
with moulded segmental-pointed arch, the label destroyed. In the S wall are 2
similar windows, and between them is a C14 doorway with segmental-pointed arch
and moulded internal label, blocked. The 4-centred chancel-arch is of 2
chamfered orders; the chamfered responds have moulded capitals and bases; this
is C15, reconstructed in the Cl9. The Nave has an early C14 N arcade of 3 bays
with 2-centred arches of 2 chamfered orders; the octagonal piers have moulded
capitals and bases, and the responds have similar half-piers. Below the
capitals of the E respond and easternmost pier are carved shields of arms, both
cut away for a later screen, now missing. The S arcade is of similar date and
architectural detail, except that the orders of the arches die on to octagonal
tas-de-charge; the arches have been partly reconstructed in the C19.
Mutilations in the capitals of the easternmost arch indicate the addition of a
screen, now missing. The N aisle is of septaria and ragstone rubble with some
brick and tile, with some yellow bricks in the arch of the E window. The C14 E
window is of 2 cinquefoiled lights with a sexfoil in a 2-centred arch with
wave-moulded rear-arch and moulded labels. In the N wall (rebuilt in the C18)
are 2 windows; the eastern is late C14, much restored, of 3 cinquefoiled ogee
lights with tracery in a square head with a moulded label; the western is C15,
much restored, of 2 cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a segmental
head with moulded rear-arch and label. Between the windows is the C14 N doorway
with jambs and 2-centred arch of 2 orders, one wave-moulded and one chamfered,
the rear-arch chamfered. The C14 door is of V-edged planks, restored at the
bottom, with 2 strap-hinges and one extra strap at the top, blocked internally.
The S aisle has an E window similar to that of the N aisle, but with headstops
to both labels. The N wall has a late C14 window similar to that in the S
aisle, also much restored. Further W is the C14 S doorway, with jambs and
2-centred arch of 2 wave-moulded orders, with a moulded label with decayed
headstops. The C14 S doors are of V-edged planks restored at the bottom, each
leaf having 4 iron straps with incised patterns; one strap includes a domed
scutcheon-plate, with a cable-twist ring handle, C14; the rear frames are
covered by C19 planking. The W window is C19, except the splays and
wave-moulded 2-centred rear-arch, C14. The W wall of the S aisle is angled in
relation to the axis, possibly a remnant of an earlier fabric. The W tower is
mid-C14, in 4 stages with moulded plinth and strings. The first and second
stages are of alternate courses of dressed flint and squared ragstone, with one
band of small yellow bricks and two bands of chequered flushwork; the courses
dip to meet the arches radially. The third and fourth stages are of pebble
rubble. The 2-centred tower-arch is of 2 orders, one wave-moulded and one
chamfered, the inner order dying on to the responds. On each side of it are
offsets which may be remnants of an earlier nave. The W doorway has moulded
jambs and 2-centred arch, and shallow wave-mouldings to the rear-arch, with
moulded label and headstops, one wholly decayed. The N, S and W walls of the
second stage have each a window of 2 trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a
2-centred head, with a moulded label and headstops, some decayed. The N, S and
W walls of the third stage have each a window of 2 trefoiled ogee lights with
tracery in a 2-centred head with moulded label, and the E wall has a pointed
opening into the Nave, with rear-arch of rubble, covered in the Nave by an C18
royal arms. The bell-chamber has in each wall a window similar to those of the
third stage. On the E wall, above the present roof, is the weathering of the
original Nave roof. There is a crenellated parapet, and a modern roof of low
pitch. The S porch is of red brick, c.1500. The outer archway has chamfered
jambs and 4-centred arch. In the E wall is a window of two 4-centred lights in
a 4-centred head; in the W wall is a window of one 4-centred light. Moulded
cornice. The roof of the porch is in one bay, of crownpost construction, with
moulded tiebeams and wallplates, a weatherboarded gable, soulaces to every
rafter couple, and renewed collar-purlin and axial braces. Fittings. In the
Chancel is a piscina with moulded jambs, cinquefoiled head and quatrefoiled
drain, in range with sedilia of 3 bays with moulded jambs and cinquefoiled
heads, C14, partly restored. In the S aisle is a C15 piscina with triangular
head and broken drain. There is in situ C14 glass in the heads of the N and S
windows of the Chancel, tabernacle work, borders etc.; in the head of the E
window of the N aisle, black and white foliage; in the heads of the N windows,
tabernacle work, crowns, and fragments of borders, in the head of the E window
of the S aisle, a leopard's head and foliage; and in the head of the S window,
tabernacle work. The communion rails are c.1700, with moulded rail and turned
balusters. The pulpit, c.1700, is hexagonal, the angles enriched with fruit,
foliage and tasselled ribbons, with fielded panels and guilloche and foliate
borders (one panel with a rose boss), moulded cornice, tapering stem, carved
base, and stair with twist-turned balusters. In the Chancel are brasses (1) to
Margaret (Rande), wife of John Freake, rector, 1592, inscription only, (2) to
Cecily, widow of Edmund Freake, bishop of Worcester, 1599, inscription only, (3)
to John Freake, rector of Purleigh and archdeacon of Norwich, 1604, inscription
only. In the Chancel are floor-slabs (1) to Elizabeth, wife of John Burton,
1624, black marble with shield of arms, (2) to Rev. Thomas Shaw, 1785, and Anna
his widow, 1814, black marble, and (3) to Rev. Roger Hayne, 1810, and Elizabeth
his widow, 1817, limestone. There are 6 bells, the third to sixth by Miles
Graye, 1636. In the S aisle are framed boards with the Lord's Prayer, Ten
Commandments and the Creed painted in gold on black, C18. In the N aisle is a
similar board of benefactions. RCHM 1.
Listing NGR: TL8413702035
