Description

TG 1323,
1/33

CAWSTON,
CHURCH LANE,
The Parish Church of St. Agnes.

10/5/61

G.V.

I

Parish Church, mainly C15, of Ashlar, flint with stone dressings, and render,
with lead and slate roofs. Tower, 2-storey south porch, north aisle, south
aisle, nave, clerestorey, north transept, north chancel chapel, chancel and
vestry. Early C15 tower, of 4 stages with 2 decorated base courses, continued
inside the nave. Stepped angle buttresses. Fine west door, with canopied
niches at east side, and Wild Man and dragon within the spandrels, and with
the arms of Wingfield and De la Pole in a frieze above. 4-light transomed
west window. 2-light sound holes to east and west, the east blocked. Two-light
bell openings on each face. Porch with stepped diagonal buttresses,
base course and west stair turret with remains of flushwork panels.
Perpendicular doorway with a niche with crocketted ogee canopy flanked by two one-light
windows with straight heads. Two curvilinear windows to east and west. Decorated
stone parapet. Tierceron vault inside with carved corbels and bosses. North
aisle of 5 bays, with stepped buttresses and tall 3-light Perpendicular windows.
The door way at the west end has an inscription and the arms of Robert Oxburgh
above. Stone parapet with gargoyles. South aisle of rendered flint, with
four tall 3-light Perpendicular windows between stepped buttresses with flushwork.
Parapet decorated with flushwork shields roses and gargoyles. North
transept with Curvilinear window to west and Perpendicular 3-light windows to north and east.
Clerestorey with five 3-light Perpendicular windows with
4-centred arches and parapet gable with bellcote. South transept with blocked
west window, C19 south window and two 3-light windows with straight heads and
reticulated tracery. North chancel chapel with brick buttress flanked by two
3-light Perpendicular windows with 4-centred arches. Vestry with 4-light
Perpendicular window to north, and a re-set stone cross in its north-east
corner. Chancel with angle stepped buttresses to north and south, that to
the south with scratch dial. On south side, re-set priest's door flanked to
the west by a Perpendicular 3-light window, and to the east, two C19 'Y' traceried
windows. C19 5-light east window. Stone parapet gables with kneelers and
finial at peak. South door to nave with attached shafts with base, battlemented
capitals and spandrel panels.

Interior of porch has at first floor level,
original timber shutters to the windows. Original bell frame in tower. Early
C16 timber ringing gallery in base of tower, with stopped and chamfered floor
joists spanning between roll moulded beams supported on moulded posts with
attached half octagonal shafts with base and capitals. Arch braces with
traceried spandrels span between capitals and beams. Balustrade with carved
balusters and fascia with carved inscription for its length. Fine tall tower
arch of compound mouldings. 6-bay arcade with octagonal piers, bases and
capitals, raised in height by 1/3. Westernmost bay 1/3 wider than remainder.
Fine single hammerbeam roof with carved angels standing on the hammer beams
bearing evidence of original paint. Hammer beams supported on octagonal wall
posts with bases and capitals, supported on carved stone corbels. Longitudinal
arch braces support carved frieze over clerestorey windows, and decorated with
angels bearing shields or musical instruments. Hammer beams alternate with
arch braces. Purlins and principal rafters are moulded and have at their
intersections carved bosses. Figures on most eastern hammer beams probably
C19 restorations. North aisle roof, arch braced, with tracery in the spandrels.
Arch braces supported on carved stone corbels. South aisle roof looks C17
with ovolo mouldings and ogee nicked stops to principal beams which have small
arch braces supported on stone corbels. Fine entrance to rood stairs in north
transept with compound moulded reveals. Above a C19 hammerbeam roof. South
transept has south piscina with ogee arch and with a Wild Man and dragon in
the spandrels. Wall painting on east wall. The wall posts and arch braces
of the roof are cut to accommodate the windows and the south aisle, though
the roll mouldings appear to be nailed to the rest of the member. Chancel
arch with C14 base and capitals. Hammerbeam roof to chancel, of shallow pitch,
the wall posts resting on timber corbels cut as springing for timber vault.
Double piscina and dropped sill sedilia replaced by 3 stalls with C14
misericords with much carving. C15 arcade to north chancel chapel with arch-braced roof. The central arch brace rests on half-round piers with bases and
capitals. Tall screen and gates and 20 painted saints on the dado. Altar
rails are C17 with turned balusters and newels with acorn finials. Perpendicular hexagonal pulpit with foot resting on stone finial base. Octagonal font,
on one step, the bowl with Perpendicular blind arcade. The base with Perpendicular tracery with shields and quatrefoils. Benches with poppyhead ends.
Those at the rear with traceried backs. A few small brasses C14 tomb in south
transept, re-positioned so that a man and woman now lie head to head. Mediaeval
poor box.

Listing NGR: TG1340423844

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535843

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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