The church of St Mary the Virgin Swardeston is situated on the Southern edge of the village. It is a fairly plain, simple church, built in the early 12th century. It was originally dedicated to St Andrew, but was rededicated to St Mary around 1400. It is however a church much visited, due to it's association with Edith Cavell, famous for her acts of heroism during the 1st world war.
The first name on the war memorial, which stands to the South of the lych gate, is in fact Edith Cavell & the Cavell family grave is to be found in the churchyard. Within the church itself there is a portrait of Edith & also a glass case containing a piece of the cross that marked her original grave in a military cemetary in Belgium.
Frederick Cavell, Edith's father, was the vicar of Swardeston for 46 years, from 1863. The Cavell family at first lived in a Georgian farmhouse beside the common (now known as Cavell house). This is where Edith was born in 1865. Frederick Cavell built a new vicarage next to the church & this became the family home. In 1890, aged 25, Edith became a governess in Brussels. But her father fell ill 5 years later & she returned home to Norfolk to nurse him. This led to her decision to become a nurse. In 1906 she returned to Brussels where she ran a training school for nurses, still often returning home. But in 1914, whilst home in Norfolk, she heard of the German invasion of Belgium & decided to return there as she would be much needed. The training school nursed soldiers from both sides, but Edith felt it was her duty to assist British soldiers to escape & return to England. Her heroic actions were discovered though & she was imprisoned & eventually shot by the Germans on October 12th 1915. Her body was buried in a military cemetary, but after the war was returned to England where a funeral was conducted at Westminster & her remains finally laid to rest in a grave at Norwich cathedral.
Beside the church there is a wooden building known as the Cavell rooms that, as well as serving as a community hall, houses a collection of memorabillia.
The church itself was restored by Frederick Cavell & retains a simple interior. A further restoration in the mid 60s saw the walls lime washed & along with the mostly clear windows & high roof give the interior a light, airy feeling.
The screen is late 14th-early 15th century & was repainted in the 1950s & again in in the 1990s. There are old poppy headed pews in the chancel, but those in the nave were reclaimed from the church of St Margaret at Westwick in 1977 to replace rows of wooden chairs.
Along the North & South walls there are arches that may have been to provide seating during the middle ages for the elderly & infirm, or they may well have been Medieval memorials to those buried beneath the church floor & could have once contained plaques. The font is an early 14th century octagonal bowl, with a 17th century oak cover.
The Nave & chancel are Saxon-Norman in origin & the roof was leaded in 1909. The porch is Tudor. The tower is over 60 feet high & probably built between 1470-1500. In 1806 a young man, James Coleman, dislodged one of the bells &, along with the bell, fell to his death. His body is buried where he fell.
The east window was installed in 1917 & is known as the Edith Cavell memorial window & has an image of her in one of the lower panes. There are also depictions of Florence Nightingale & Joan of Arc.
The cache:- There is no need to enter the church or Cavell rooms, or even the grave yard if walking from the North, but those interested in the story of Edith Cavell's life may well enjoy a look. The cache is a custom micro just outside the church grounds.