Churches which still retain west gallery
features or connections |
Aylsham, St Michael |
A 15th C. church, with a 17th C.
west gallery "supported on arched braces with tracery in the spandrels."
(Pevsner) |
Barnham Broom, St Peter and St
Paul
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Barrel & finger
organ |
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1850 |
Corps, Norwich |
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Replaced former
organ; originally in W gallery, then to the SE
corner of the nave; |
1935 |
organ moved back
to its original position in W gallery; |
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Casework |
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Position: W gallery |
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Type: Architectural |
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"Churchwarden
gothic" case |
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according to Langwill & Boston,
this was a barrel organ. |
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Berg
Apton, St Peter & St Paul |
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Brisley, St Bartholomew |
The church has a notable 15th C.
west tower, and stands in the centre of the village. ". . . though the church
is in a deplorable condition the medley of 15th C. woodwork worked up into
box-pews and a three-decker, and the uneven flooring . . . give the feeling of
a Rowlandson print . . . " (CEPC) Is it still
like this? |
Briston All Saints
|
Zinc 'cello
preserved in the church. |
Brooke,
St Peter |
Small gallery
at west end, on metal pillars. now occupied by the organ. |
Carbrooke, St Peter & St Paul
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15th C. nave and west tower. The
west gallery has the Royal Arms and turned balusters. |
Cawston, St
Agnes |
Church ales have given way to fetes
but the plough and the sign of the Plough Inn of Sygate stand beneath this
inscription on the balustrade of the tower gallery : |
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"God spede the plow and send
us ale corn enow our purpose to make at crow of cok of the plowlete of
Sygate be merry and glede war good ale yis work mad". |
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It shows that Cawston was, and
still is, an agricultural rather than a 'wool' church. The roof is one of the
most splendid of all the East-Anglian hammer-beams. . . (CEPC)
See also the inscription at
Worstead, Norfolk.

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Coltishall, Dedication not known
|
The church has a 17th C. west
gallery with twisted balusters.
|
Downham Market, Dedication not
known |
There is a handsome 18th C. west
gallery. |
East Walton, St Mary |
The church has a round Norman tower,
and contains Georgian box-pews and a three-decker pulpit. (CEPC) |
Foxley,
St Thomas the Apostle |
Restored in the late 1950s after a period of
neglect, this church retains its west gallery. (CEPC) (also Cautley; no ref. in
Pevsner.)
The lower part of the nave walls date from the late Saxon or early Norman period. Buttresses were added to the walls as support in the
15th C when the nave windows were replaced with the larger
ones of the Perpendicular period. |
Frenze, St Andrew |
The church is almost in a farmyard, and in 1958
was still in an unrestored condition, containing a large Jacobean pew and
pulpit, and had "the appearance of a snug little private chapel".
(CEPC) These pictures taken from
the church website at
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/album.php?V=2905

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Gooderstone, St George |
The church has a mediaeval interior with
two-decker pulpit. From
the church web site at
http://web.onetel.com/~faywheeler/Architecture.htm
The south aisle chapel is 14th century with 15th
century benches. There are a few fragments of ancient glass,
mainly in the east window, showing the Last Judgement. By the
side of the ancient altar is a piscina or sink with credence
shelf for communion vessels. The altar rails are Jacobean.
At the chancel arch stands
the unique 15th century ROOD SCREEN which the architect
Cautley describes as "one of the most remarkable in the
country". It is 16 ft high and originally supported figures of
Christ on the cross, probably with other figures of Mary and
saints. The whole screen had been brightly painted and gilded,
with delicately carved tracery setting off the pictorial
panels. These show the 12 apostles, each with his emblem, his
name above (now almost illegible) and an illuminated label
from his mouth giving key clauses from the creed.
On the centre doors of the
ROOD SCREEN are panels of the four Latin Doctors of the Church
- St. Jerome shown in cardinals robes, Pope St. Gregory the
Great who sent Augustine to England, St. Ambrose of Milan and
St. Augustine of Hippo in Africa. Unfortunately, these figures
have been defaced and are becoming illegible.
The CHANCEL is a fine example of the simple Early English
style, with an unusually low floor level. On the right of the
altar is a 12ft long stone sedilia on three levels, the
unusual length of which suggests that a larger group of clergy
than one would expect for a village church may have ministered
here. This thought is supported by there being six 13th
century priests' stalls.
The NAVE is dominated by
imposing transomed Perpendicular windows on the north side and
the two-decker Jacobean pulpit. However, most impressive are
the benches - a wealth of 15th century mediaeval carved seats
in almost original condition, except for mutilation of the
statuettes at the pew-ends (probably at the time of the
puritans) and 500 years of sheer wear and tear! The benches
are beautifully worked with carved poppy-heads, traceried and
pierced backs, and in the south aisle with recumbent human and
animal figures.

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Great Ellingham, St James |
14th C. church with 15th C. additions and
contains an 18th C. west gallery in two stages for choir and ringers. |
Great Yarmouth, St George |
The church was built by John Price in 1714, and
is considered to be the most perfect example of the 'auditory' church of the
early 18th C., with galleries all round, classical reredos and pulpit, and wide
plaster ceiling in the nave. (CEPC) |
Gunton, St Andrew |
Built by Robert Adam in 1769, it is
unquestionably one of the most attractive churches that could be found
anywhere. Palladian west front, and inside it is furnished as a college chapel
with contemporary organ on a west gallery, and each of the stalls beneath is
supplied with a magnificent folio Prayer Book in blue morocco with gilt
tooling, for the use of the Harbord family who caused all these beautiful
things to be made. The great house is partly ruined, the park is tangled and
overgrown, but the former glory has not departed from Gunton church, which
preserves the spirit of the period better than any other such church in the
eastern counties. (Rev C L S Linnell in 1958 in
CEPC) |
Hockering, Dedication not known
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There is a Hanoverian coat of arms on the front
of the west gallery. |
Ketteringham, St Peter |
The church was completely restored in the very
early 19th century gothic style. There are two large pews in the chancel,
box-pews in the nave, west gallery (with central organ) and three-decker pulpit, all in the same
style as Ketteringham Hall which was rebuilt about the same time by the Boileau
family. The church has the appearance of a private chapel standing almost
within the gardens of the Hall. (CEPC) |
Litcham, All Saints
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TF 887177. The brick west tower dates from 1669, and replaces its predecessor that was destroyed by fire in 1636.
The west gallery dates from 1853 and is partly made from cast iron. |
Little
Snoring, St. Andrew
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Stepped area at the
West end, possibly for the use of a long-forgotten quire? |
Norwich, St. George-in-Colegate
|
TG2308 A 15th C. church with all its early 19th C.
fittings in place - pews, pulpit, west gallery with organ on top, and a
handsome classical reredos. (CEPC)
The
gallery is thought to be 18th C., with Tuscan columns.
Organ |
1802 |
G.P. England |
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Built and placed in W
gallery |
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1880 |
E.W. Norman |
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Moved to N chancel
aisle |
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1885 |
Norman
& Beard |
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Clean etc; Order
Book 1, page 47; new bellows handle 1886
(page 57); |
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1945 |
W.
& A. Boggis |
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Restored in
original position in west gallery. |
Casework
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Ramsholt,
dedication unknown |
Round
tower, horse-box pews and a three-decker pulpit. |
Redenhall, Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary |
TM2684 barrel
organ in west
gallery
Organ |
1843 |
G.M. Holdich, London |
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£700; Brought from London
(by 12 horses) and erected here |
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Reepham, St. Michael
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The church contains a deep west gallery dating
from the 17th C. |
Stratton
Strawless, St.
Margaret |
This church has a west gallery,
but no further details are known about it.
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*Terrington, St. Clement
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The largest church in Marshland, with a west
screen erected in 1788 to support a gallery for the quire and band at a cost of
£13. From 1840 to 1910 it held a small organ.
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*Terrington, St. John |
This 14th C. church still contains box-pews. The
font cover dates from 1632. |
Thurning, St. Andrew |
Only the nave and north aisle still survives, but
each bay of the aisle contains a box-pew. The three-decker pulpit, the
three-sided Communion rails and the wainscot rails of the box-pews all came
from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1825. |
Tibenham, All Saints |
The church is especially notable for its 17th C.
woodwork, especially the great double-decker Buxton family pew in the south
aisle, which was erected after the granting of a Faculty by Archbishop Laud in
1635. |
Upwell,
St Peter |
North and
west galleries. Angel roof. Carved Royal Arms of Queen
Victoria. High pulpit with canopied tester. Priest's
room (parvis) over porch. |
Walpole,
St. Andrew
|
Here there is a Jacobean pulpit, and the old
altar rails have been made into the balustrade of the tower gallery. (CEPC)
17th. C. "Jacobean, simple."
(Pevsner) |
*Walpole, St. Peter |
"Undoubtedly the finest church of the Fens. . . .
but here in addition it is the number of things to see in the way of
furnishings which are so remarkable. Especially of the post-reformation period
for which the Jacobean screen right across the west end and the 'sentry box'
for the protection of the clergyman officiating at the graveside in inclement
weather , require particular attention".
(CEPC)
"Gallery in tower with turned balusters."
(Guidebook) # |
Warham,
St Mary Magdalene |

This church, though mediaeval, has the feel of
the 18th century, with its towering three-decker pulpit, box-pews and
'bird-bath' font.
Go to
the Norfolk Churches Site maintained by Simon Knott:
http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/warhammarymagdelene/
warhammarymagdelene.htm

"You
step inside to an interior that underwent a substantial
restoration at the unusually early date of 1801. As Pevsner
observes, this gives it great character, a feeling quite
different to most medieval churches. The box pews, the
three-decker pulpit, the communion rails - they are all of a
piece, and probably the work of the same carpenter.
Contemporary with them is the bird-bath font at the west end."
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Waterden,
All Saints |
Go to the
Norfolk Churches Site maintained by Simon Knott:
http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/waterden/waterden.htm

Box pews in the tiny church rescued by the
Norfolk Churches Trust and restored for parochial use, even
though in reality there isn't a parish, or at least any people
nearby. |
Wiggenhall, St German |
The church contains a Jacobean pulpit with an
hour-glass stand. |
Wiggenhall, St Mary the Virgin |
This church also contains a Jacobean pulpit with
an hour-glass stand. |
Wilby, All Saints |
The west gallery is dated 1637. The gallery is
also the ringing chamber within the tower, and has turned balusters.
There is
also a three-decker pulpit half-way down the nave. |
Worstead,
St Mary
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One of the finest 'wool' churches of East Anglia.
1550 stone ringing gallery under tower. As at Cawston,
Norfolk, there is an inscription along the front of the tower gallery: |
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"This werke was made in ye
yer of God MCCCCCL at ye proper cost of ye benefactors of ye church of Worstead
callyd ye bachellers lyte yt God preserve wth all ye benefactors of ye same now
and ever. Amen" |
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Churches which are known to have had west
gallery features or connections |
King's Lynn, St Mary |
There used to be a organ on a west gallery, now
gone. |
Worstead, All Saints |
The west gallery was removed in the 19th C.
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Asterisks denote
churches in preparation
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