ST WILFRID, LOW MARNHAM
St Wilfrid's, Low Marnham is a Grade I listed building having attained the status on 1st February 1967.
The church was last used in 1980 and formally declared redundant in 1986. St Wilfrid's is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.
The building dates from the 13th century, with additions and alterations in the 14th, 15th and 19th centuries.
There is no mention in Domesday of a church at either High or Low Marnham, or in the outlying hamlet of Skegby. In 1359, Marnham is listed amongst churches given by the Knights Hospitaller to be served by secular vicars. In 1629 the chancel was ‘out of repair’ and in 1641 one of bells had broken. In all between 1636 and 1639 a total of £26 10s was spent on church repairs and improvements which were evidently much needed. There was a general, but not drastic, restoration in 1846.
EXTERIOR
St Wilfrid's is constructed in stone with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a north chapel, a chancel and a west tower. From the exterior, the style of the church is Perpendicular. The tower is in two stages, with diagonal buttresses. In the lower stage is a three-light west window, and there are clock faces on the north, west and south sides. The upper stage contains two-light bell openings on each side. At the top of the tower is an embattled parapet with pinnacles at the corners, and two gargoyles. The north wall of the north aisle contains four three-light windows, an arched doorway, and five gargoyles. There is a three-light window in both the west and east walls of this aisle. The north chapel has a similar window. Along both walls of the clerestory are four three-light windows and five gargoyles. At the east end of the chancel is a three-light window and two gargoyles. In the south wall of the chancel is a doorway with a two-light window on each side. On the south side of the south aisle is a porch, with a three-light window to its right and a two-light window to the left. The doorway in the porch has an ogee arch with multiple layers of moulding, at the bottom of which are carved heads. In the west end of the aisle is a single-light window.
INTERIOR
The arcades differ in that the north arcade is carried on low cylindrical pillars with circular capitals, while the south arcade has taller octagonal pillars with detached shafts. In the south wall of the chancel is a tomb recess, and in the south wall of the south aisle is a piscina and an aumbry.
There is a 15th century figure of St James in the glass of a north window, and in the same vicinity are traces of painted wall texts, probably of the 18th or 19th centuries. There are two fine monuments, one of 1698 to the Nicholson family, and one of 1748 to William Cartwright who was the father of Cartwright the inventor of the power loom. A royal coat-of-arms is dated 1749 and has the initials of George II.
The tower contains three bells, two are by Thomas Mears of London and are dated 1841, the third is a medieval bell by the Seliok family (1470-1540) and bears a dedication to St Wulfram which is unique in England.
The village war memorial to the 3 villagers lost during World War I is also inside the building.
The church stands promenantly on raised ground in the middle of the village and is usually open to visitors.
St Wilfrid's is a glorious church and I urge you to spend some time there and have a look round.
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