Church Micro 4257…Swanton Morley-Wensum Way
This is a fine location on the top of a hill at one end of the village, on the road leading to Bawdeswell. It is a grade one listed building and has a number of interesting features, which make it well worth a visit.
It is not the first church on this site, for one was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The present church was probably begun in about 1370. We know for certain that the church was in course of construction in 1379 because it was then that Sir William de Morley bequeathed the sum of ten marks (£6-13s-4d) and a gilt cup to the church.
It is a large church for a village and it was built to a very ambitious design. In particular the aisles of the nave extend to ‘embrace’ the tower, which is supported on three sides by massive arches . The effect of this is to give a large open space at the west end. One can only speculate why such a large space was required, because the rest of the nave would have been more than ample for the congregation. However, it should be remembered that the naves of churches were used for many secular purposes at that time.
The stone tracery in the aisle windows, which is in a very early Perpendicular style, is particularly fine and the first of its kind in the area.
This cache is not located within the church grounds! Please BYOP
This small camo container is part of the Norfolk Trails geocaching series. Why not try the rest of the Wensum Way Trail?
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”