|
TILNEY ALL
SAINTS LOCAL HISTORY GROUP
ALL SAINTS, TILNEY This great
church, with a total length of 145 feet and built of the stone
known as 'Barnack Rag' from Northamptonshire - the quarries at Barnack belonging to the Abbey of Peterborough having supplied the materials for most of the churches in East Anglia - is a splendid example of how a much earlier building was altered and brought into line with later styles during the Gothic period, especially during the 15th century, the period of the region's greatest prosperity. It is clear that the church existed in the 12th century. The arcades with their round arches date from around 1180, but the arches at the eastern end, with their deeply cut foliage moulding on the capitals, may well be a little earlier, suggesting that the building was begun from the east end ( The Norman Arches, picture ). It would also appear that at this period the aisles were shorter than
at present and that the chancel extended beyond the east end.of the
arcades, for on each side in the easternmost bay two small arches remain, close together, which would have been the chancel windows when the aisles did not extend so far outside. At the west end of the nave, however , the style changes and the rounded 11th century Norman arches give way, in the westernmost bay on either side, to Early English pointed ones (picture) , suggesting that the church was given a western extension about 1250,or as the late Canon C R Manning suggested, that there may have been a Norman west tower which fell at about this period necessitating the reconstruction of the west end of the church. PAGE 2 PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 5 PAGE 6 |