Church Micro 15153...Hempstead
Hempstead church sits alone in the flat fields less than a mile from the coast in north-east Norfolk. On a summer's day it is a very pleasant place to be, despite the busy traffic of tractors bringing in the harvest and holidaymakers heading for the beach. But how different it is in winter! For then, sea frets spread like smoke across the bare soil, the few trees drip with damp, and the occasional farmworker on a bike is the only movement in the ancient, narrow lanes. It might be any century.
This church consists of a late 13th century chancel, with a largely 15th century nave, west tower and rather grand south porch. The roofs of the nave and chancel date from a restoration of 1878. Inside is a 15th century rood screen with a painted display of saints, one of which, St Eligious, the patron saint of farriers, was stolen in 1982 and never recovered. There is also a 15th century stone font with lions on its base, a fine early 17th century pulpit on legs and a reading desk of about the same date. Slightly out of place are three massive baroque bench ends that came from King's College Chapel in Cambridge.
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