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I Location

II General Description

This is a long stone and brick church of the fenland consisting of a 14thc./15thc. brick tower and clerestory; an early 13thc. five-bay nave arcade; and an early 14thc. chancel. Chancel renovated in 1869. There are several examples of reused Romanesque sculpture in the chancel and in the nave.

III Exterior Features

3. Exterior Decoration

d. Miscellaneous

(i) S label stop, chancel, E window

Quadruped beast very worn, but the leg position relative to the body is exactly as in IV.5.c.vii on the interior on the chancel. This is in an extremely worn condition.

(ii) N label stop, chancel, E window

Large human head with a gaping slash of a mouth; large square block of the stone still very prominent; based on scale and relationship to the label this is clearly an insertion here.

IV Interior Features

5. Interior Decoration

c. Miscellaneous

(i) E label stop, chancel, S wall, S1 window

Beast type head wearing a strap device (?) over wide, circular eyes; pointed ears; open mouth.

(ii) W label stop, chancel, S wall, S1 window

Unidentifiable beast head with mouth open and tongue sticking out (?).

(iii) E label stop, chancel, S wall, blocked window

Reused point-to-point chevron voussoir. W label stop here is a plain, square block of stone.

(iv) E label stop, chancel, S wall, S2 window

Very roughly carved/damaged human head (?) with two bulging, round eyes and triangular nose.

(v) W label stop, chancel, S wall, S2 window

Same as E label stop of this window but larger and better preserved.

(vi) E label stop, chancel, N wall, N1 window

Human figure with hands up to mouth and nose; below arms one can see the mouth wide open and long tongue hanging down and to the W. Re-used drainspout (?).

(vii) W label stop, chancel, N wall, N1 window

A small, leaping/running (?) quadruped with a smile on its small round face.

(viii) E label stop, chancel, N wall, N2 window

Human face with large nose and grimacing mouth. Top of head is flat and corners of eye turn down. There is a high degree of plasticity in the style of this label stop.

(ix) W label stop, chancel, N wall, N2 window

Unidentifiable beast head (?) of a highly plastic style; pointed ears (?).

(x) Re-set chevron voussoirs in chancel, N wall

In the N chancel wall, just W of window N2 there are two reused stones each with a nested chevron inside a larger chevron.

Dimensions

(xi) Re-set volute capital

Located in the S aisle of the nave and 2.035 m above floor level and 0.16 m from S wall of S aisle. Volute capital, the volutes being the furled ends of large, broad leaves. Roll mould necking but keeled in plan. Plain abacus; impost has a hollow chamfer and a quirk on the upright plane. The N half of the impost is all new. A wooden dowel is set in the centre of the capital base.

Dimensions

(xii) Label stop above pier 4, nave, S arcade

Human head with ribbed hair, small knotted indistinct ears, almond eyes with deeply drilled pupils, and broad, rounded chin.

(xiii) Label stop above pier 4, nave, N arcade

Human head with cross-hatched hair except on plain, inverted triangular space directly above nose; very small, narrow, almond eyes; slit mouth; triangular chin.

VII History

In listing the land of Ivo Tallboys, the Domesday Survey notes a church in Tydd (St Mary) under his lordship in 1086. The church is built on the site of a salt-hill, a remnant of the local salt-making industry in the fenland economy, which drove the construction of large churches in this region (Sawyer).

VIII Comments/Opinions

It is likely that label stops IV.5.c.i, ii, and vi in the chancel are reused corbels given their size; IV.5.c.iii, is clearly a reused 12thc. voussoir; III.3.d.i appears to be good medieval material and in situ. Label stops IV.5.c.iv, v and III.3.d.ii are hard to analyze as their forms are so abstract. Are these medieval? Their rudimentary features and block-like quality are not dissimilar to the rare pair of Anglo-Saxon label stops, which survive at St. Peter, Barton-Upon-Humber (Everson and Stocker). On the other hand, label stops IV.5.c.viii and ix, with their excessive plasticity, are stylistically out of place with the other label stops in the chancel; these look to be later insertions and are very likely part of the 19thc. restoration . Finally, what are we to make of IV.5.c.vii, the running quadruped which seems to mirror III.3.d.i? Is this another product of the 19thc. restoration based on III.3.d.i? Except for III.3.d.i, whose proportion and alignment of the legs with the label argue for this being in situ, all these label stops were probably inserted into their present location during the 1869 renovation of the chancel. The plan of the necking of the re-set volute capital in the S aisle of the nave, IV.5.c.xi, argues for a keeled shaft below it. The nave arcades are c.1200 with the round columns, polygonal capitals (some with partially carved upright leaves), and chamfered two-steps arches which can't quite decide whether to be round or pointed.

IX Bibliography