All Saints Church, Marsham - Inside

Having already explored a little of the graveyard around the All Saints Church, in the village of Marsham, let us know go inside and talk a look around...

Even before we went inside, the rapier flight of two swallows darting out of the church porch alerted us to the presence of their nest in the niche above the front door. Would the church be open though? 

Yes! And as soon as we stepped within I knew that this was going to be something a bit special. First of all, note the lean to the right of this arcade of arches - the south aisle. And on the soffit (underside of the arch) near the end, note the blush of pink; the remnants of medieval decoration...

 Now, I was aware prior to this visit, that the rood screen and seven sacrament font are the 'star' features of the churches in all the guides - and rightly so! However, a Ragged Ramblers eye is always roving in search of the presence of humble folk. It didn't take me long, therefore, to locate a really rich assemblage of early (apparently) Nineteenth century graffiti near the foot of one of the pillars of the south aisle (there is another such collection, on the opposite aisle too)...

The urge to leave your mark is timeless...

Here you see a medieval 'daisywheel' lightly etched into one of the aisle blocks, very close by the previous graffiti. 


It wasn't long before I stumbled into another 'personal' touch; a lovely intimate epitaph on a ledger slab in the central aisle...

Whenever was the worth of a person expressed within the limits of a page, let alone a gravestone? 


There is more, so much more to find here. If you get a chance, visit yourself (it's open during summer months). In the meantime, here are some more photographs...

An exquisite Late Fifteenth century rood screen...

Delicate stencilled patterns...

Fragments of gesso on the faces of the rood screen arches

Well preserved early Fifteenth century Seven Sacrament font. You are
looking at a baptism scene

Mid-Eighteenth century skull and cross-bones

A well-stocked bric-a-brac table!

A very fine late medieval Hammerbeam roof, with slightly
incongruous Eighteenth century tie-beams

A smattering of medieval glass (these pieces reclaimed from robbed-out
fragments at nearby Bolwick Hall

A wonderfully naive rendition of a lion and unicorn on this,
a rare early survivor, with the royal arms of James 1

Mirror carving on main entrance doorway

There is just so much here! I was moved to call fellow Ragged Rambler, Thadeus Basil-Snapper (the third) and enthusiastically talk him through some of what I was seeing here. As I said earlier - and as the awesome Simon Knott concurs - this is a church deserving of much more acknowledgement than it currently receives. 


~ Munro Tweeder-Harris, Esq ~