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I Location

II General Description

12thc. nave with later aisles. The nave is six bays long, and on the N side the Perpendicular arcade is indeed of six bays. The S aisle, raised above the level of the nave, is largely of c.1200 with chamfered round-headed arches and moulded capitals, but the arcade is only four bays long on the inside (bay 4 is Perpendicular). On the outside the aisle is seen to continue westwards for a fifth bay, which acts as a porch for the 12thc. S doorway. This still leaves one unaisled bay, and in this is a small, round-headed, 12thc. window. The chancel has a brick S chapel of c.1500, the North Chapel, built by the first Baron North who died in 1564, and whose tomb it houses. The W tower is Perpendicular, along with the clerestorey of the nave, and it is clear that a major remodelling took place around 1500. Apart from the North Chapel the construction is of flint and pebble with a good deal of render.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) Nave S doorway

Round-headed, three orders with tympanum. The tympanum is semicircular and uncarved except for a central roundel in which is depicted a barefoot Christ in Majesty, seated on a rainbow shown as a triple-reeded band. He holds a book in his L hand, supported on his knee, and his R hand is raised in blessing. A loose end of drapery emerges from behind the elbow of his R arm. His head is simply carved, egg-shaped, and framed by long hair. He has undrilled almond-shaped eyes and a roughly triangular nose. The lower part of the face is worn, but Christ appears to have a moustache and beard. Behind his head the two side arms of a cross halo are shown, with no enclosing circle. The drapery is elaborately carved with folds outlining the breasts, a loop of cloth at the waist, and straight folds fanning out on the skirt. What stands out, however, is the richness of the clothing, shown with jewelled borders at the hems and collar.

The 1st order has plain jambs with human head corbels to L and R supporting the tympanum.

The L (W) corbel faces SE, engaging the eye of the worshipper entering the church. It is elegantly carved with drilled pupils to the eyes, and both eyes and lids outlined with sinuous curves. The nose is broken off, but below it is a long curving moustache and a neatly-trimmed beard depicted by vertical reeding. There are unusually elaborate ears at either side.

The R corbel similarly engages the viewer by facing SW. He is stylistically similar to his companion but is clean-shaven and his long, curving neck is more apparent. Above each corbel is a hollow chamfer.

The second order has detached en-delit nook shafts, octagonal and carved with chevron, on attic bases with large cavettos and small rolls below. These support cushion capitals with angle fillets and the bells treated as double scallops. Neckings are plain and imposts chamfered with angle rolls between face and chamfer. The arch above is carved with centrifugal point-to-point chevron, roll-roll on the face, single quirked roll on the soffit, and lozenges on the angle.

The third order has circular en-delit nook shafts carved with alternating large and small reeding. The supports are otherwise similar to the second order, including the E capital, but the W capital is a cushion with angle tucks and trilobed leaves with drilling between lobes (like waterleaf) carved on each side of the bell. The arch has centrifugal lateral face chevron on a single big roll at the angle and two quirks outside it on the face. The label is carved with a double row of billet.

Dimensions

2. Windows

(i) S wall of nave towards W end.

A round-headed window with a monolithic head carved with a shallow roll on the face, quirked towards intrados and extrados.

VII History

In 1086 Kirtling was held by Countess Judith, the niece of William I (daughter of his half-sister Adelaide and Lambert, Count of Lens), and widow of Earl Waltheof of Huntingdon and Northumbria. It was assessed at 6 hides and included fisheries giving 5,500 eels and a park for wild beasts.

VIII Comments/Opinions

The debt to the Prior's Doorway at Ely Cathedral is unmistakeable. Particular points of comparison are the two corbel heads turned to face outwards on curving necks. As at Ely the L is bearded and the R clean-shaven, while the ear of the R head at Ely is similar in form to those carved here. The figure of Christ at Kirtling uses many of the same fold conventions as the Ely Christ, including the loop at the waist, and there is a similar interest in decorative borders, although those at the Cathedral are simply drilled. The curious flying drapery strand below the elbow here makes much more sense in the Ely prototype. It is tempting to suppose that paint may originally have been used to provide, for example, the flanking angels found at Ely. The curious juxtaposition of a richly carved Christ in an otherwise uncarved tympanum would be hard to account for without it. Having followed Ely in the Christ and the corbels, the Kirtling carvers apparently found the elaborate foliage carving of the Prior's Doorway completely beyond them, and although the basic three-order design was followed, the capitals, shafts and arches of the outer orders were given a more conventional treatment.

IX Bibliography