The Grand Tour!
Let
us begin by facing the church, looking north (back to the road).
To our left is the tower. A few feet from the top can be seen an
engraved stone forming a boarder around the tower. Engraved on it
are the words "Praise God for all the good benefactors, 1586". Of
these benefactors, the most generous was the Lord of the Manor of
Springfield Barns, Sir Thomas Mildmay. His coat of arms - 3 lions
rampant on a shield - appears on a 15 inch stone half way down one
of the tower buttresses. We shall visit the tower later... We
now move from the tower towards the porch, and as we do so, note
the various types of brick and stone used in the walls. This includes
stones dated from the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago! Just above
the roof of the porch on the right-hand side, are bricks in a radial
formation. These are the remains of a Norman window which was blocked
when the original porch was built in 1371. The present porch was
built in 1867 as a memorial to Richard Coates. Built
in to the wall just above ground level are red tiles which are of
Roman origin. Slightly
further east is evidence of further rebuilding. Here a protruding
corner of the wall contains bricks from the Tudor period (1586)
where a tower once stood before being demolished during this period.
Traces of the tower can also be seen inside the church. Further
east is the “Priest’s door”, around which are mass dials.
These sun dials were used before clocks to tell the times of the
services. Unfortunately the pins have been destroyed, but the careful
carving is still evident. The radial lines indicate the times of
the services. The tour continues inside the
church...
