St Mary, Bessingham

This is one of the most delightfully set of churches, a little round towered church set above the narrow lanes of its parish in the deepest Norfolk countryside. The tower is of the 11th Century, and Pevsner compares the bell openings with those at Haddiscoe, observing that this is what the tower there might have been like before its later elaboration. The upper stage is largely constructed out of carstone, the gingerbread coloured stone found in the west of Norfolk. The church beside the tower is an almost complete rebuild of the 1870s, the 15th Century roodscreen being relocated to the great church at nearby Baconsthorpe where it now sits in the north aisle.

You step into a tiny space, and the feel is almost entirely of its early 1930s makeover. The only older survival is the plain octagonal late medieval font behind the door. The sanctuary and east window are the 1932 work of Powell & Sons, the glass being a joint effort by that old stalwart of the firm James Hogan and the new kid on the block Harry Stammers. Christ in Majesty is set above the Annunciation, both flanked by angels.

There is earlier glass on the south side. The Blessed Virgin and St John are by Kempe & Co in that workshops customary stuffy style, but that to the west of it is more interesting. It depicts King David and Isaiah, and appears to be the work of Herbert Bryans. It's dated 1897, the year that Bryans left the Kempe workshop after being partly responsible for its familiar house style, and so this must be one of his very first windows as an independent workshop. None of it intrudes, and on a sunny afternoon the light thrown across the nave can catch the breath. The church is no longer used for regular worship, but it is open to passing strangers and pilgrims all the time. To be here alone on a sunny day is like stepping into the heart of a precious jewel.

Simon Knott, July 2023

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