DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32037#0068
44
FAKENHAM CHURCH, NORFOLK.
PLATE, No. 52, 53.
FAKENILAM CHURCH, NORFOLK.
Norfolk, and tlie adjoining county of Suffolk, contain some noble parish
cliurches, erected, for the most part, in the fifteenth century, and a few
so late as the reign of Henry VIII. The walls of many of these edifices
consist of a mixture of squared flints, inserted amidst a sort of frame-work
of freestone, producing a firm and durable fabric, with the help of good
cement. The use of flints was suggested by considerations of economy,
as good stone could only be procured from distant quarries; but, by careful
practice, the workmen of former ages attained to a degree of perfection in
the management of this rugged material, which may justly claim our
admiration.
Plate I. Fakenham Church is a large edifice, consisting of a nave and
ailes, with a south porch, a chancel, and a lofty tower. The western en-
trance is here represented in an elevation and section, with a plan of part
of the tower, to shew the position of the door-way. This church was
erected in the fifteenth century, chiefly in the reign of Henry VI. The
royal arms in one of the spandrils of tlie door, and the initial letter
surmounted by a crown, seem to refer to this monarch, whose memory was
formerly honoured in Fakenham Church, by a light kept continually burning.*
Plate II. shews one of the niches, or tabernacles, which stand on each
side of the door. The ornaments of the canopies to these niches are par-
ticularly curious, and will be found so fully displayed on the Plate, as to
require no further elucidation. Both these niches are vacant; but they
were evidently intended for the reception of statues, and perhaps were oc-
cupied by figures of the patron of the church, St. Peter, and his fellow-
apostle, St. Paul, to whom tlie cross-keys and cross-swords, sculptured on
shields over the door, may be supposed to allude.
* Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury, was possessed of part of Fakenliam, and probably
contributed to the rebuilding of the church, as he was a munificent prelate, and a great patron
of architecture. See the Account of his works at All Souls’ College, Oxford, p. 6.
FAKENHAM CHURCH, NORFOLK.
PLATE, No. 52, 53.
FAKENILAM CHURCH, NORFOLK.
Norfolk, and tlie adjoining county of Suffolk, contain some noble parish
cliurches, erected, for the most part, in the fifteenth century, and a few
so late as the reign of Henry VIII. The walls of many of these edifices
consist of a mixture of squared flints, inserted amidst a sort of frame-work
of freestone, producing a firm and durable fabric, with the help of good
cement. The use of flints was suggested by considerations of economy,
as good stone could only be procured from distant quarries; but, by careful
practice, the workmen of former ages attained to a degree of perfection in
the management of this rugged material, which may justly claim our
admiration.
Plate I. Fakenham Church is a large edifice, consisting of a nave and
ailes, with a south porch, a chancel, and a lofty tower. The western en-
trance is here represented in an elevation and section, with a plan of part
of the tower, to shew the position of the door-way. This church was
erected in the fifteenth century, chiefly in the reign of Henry VI. The
royal arms in one of the spandrils of tlie door, and the initial letter
surmounted by a crown, seem to refer to this monarch, whose memory was
formerly honoured in Fakenham Church, by a light kept continually burning.*
Plate II. shews one of the niches, or tabernacles, which stand on each
side of the door. The ornaments of the canopies to these niches are par-
ticularly curious, and will be found so fully displayed on the Plate, as to
require no further elucidation. Both these niches are vacant; but they
were evidently intended for the reception of statues, and perhaps were oc-
cupied by figures of the patron of the church, St. Peter, and his fellow-
apostle, St. Paul, to whom tlie cross-keys and cross-swords, sculptured on
shields over the door, may be supposed to allude.
* Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury, was possessed of part of Fakenliam, and probably
contributed to the rebuilding of the church, as he was a munificent prelate, and a great patron
of architecture. See the Account of his works at All Souls’ College, Oxford, p. 6.