Rood Screen Stairs - St Mary's Church, Church Road, North Creake, Norfolk, NR21 9JJ - Stone Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

This large parish church is Grade I listed and in size more akin to inner city churches. It consists of a chancel, a south porch and south door, c.1300, and a nave, north aisle, and west tower, C15th, and is built of knapped and rubble flint with stone dressings and has lead roofs. There is a Brass in the church of a civilian holding a church as its donor. This is possibly Sir William Calthorpe who claimed in his will (1495) to have rebuilt the church, giving a possible date for the clerestorey and roofs. The church was restored in 1897 by Frederick Preedy, architect, at the bequest of Bishop Lloyd, Rector 1894-1903. Hicks and Charlewood of Newcastle on Tyne made the elaborate carved and painted altar and reredos, and the Decorated style oak carved rood screen.

The stairs from the north aisle to the left of the chancel arch led to the rood loft which, in Medieval times, would have carried the Great Rood or 'Christ Crucified', a large carved figure of Christ on the cross, it would normally have been supported by statues of saints, The Virgin Mary and St.John were favourites. The word rood is derived from the Saxon word rood or rode, meaning "cross" or "crucifix". The rood screen (also known as the choir screen, chancel screen, or jube) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture and is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, (between the laity and the clergy), of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron. Here the stair entrance has been filled with a door, the stairs are still present as is the upper loft doorway but the rood loft itself has gone although there are a couple of brackets which may have supported the rood beam. The priest used to walk across the rood loft to attend to the candles placed before the figures of the saints, scary.

For more information see Wikipedia, 'Rood screen'.

The co-ordinates are for the south porch.

Approximate Age of Artefact: c1495 Relevant Website: Not listed

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