Norwich: St Martin-at-Oak
Diocese of Norwich
Closed Church, 626096
This church is on the Heritage at Risk Register (verified 2024-11-14)
View more information about this church on the Heritage at Risk website
Overview
Grid reference: TG 227 91
Thomas Wilkyns who, according to an inscription recorded by Blomefield, rebuilt this church at his own expense died in 1491. Therefore, the church must date from a few years before that. The chancel was rebuilt in 1852 and the building was much damaged in the Second World War but restored to designs by J.P. Chaplin and re-dedicated in 1953.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, four-bay nave with south aisle and south porch of two storeys; chancel with small south chapel.
Description of Archaeology and History
Thomas Wilkyns who, according to an inscription recorded by Blomefield, rebuilt this church at his own expense died in 1491. Therefore the church must date from a few years before that. The chancel was rebuilt in 1852 and the building was much damaged in the Second World War but restored to designs by J.P. Chaplin and re-dedicated in 1953.
Exterior Description
The west front of the church is low but varied, the tower having been rebuilt to a lesser height than. originally. Even before damage, it was not one of the grand Norwich towers, and the whole scale of the church is unpretentious. As it now stands, the tower is in fact just lower than the nave gable, forming more of an overgrownporch. Like the rest of the church, it is faced with flint and has limestonedressings and quoins. There is a door in the lower part with a four-centred arch recessed within a square but without a dripstone. A window with Y-tracery sits closely above it, and this has a drip-stone. For the rest, the wall is plain except for a string-course high up decorated with fleurons and then the stepped gable.
On the south side of the tower there is a couple of turrets presumably for the stair. One is higher than the other. The main door to the church is in the wall beside these, and is modern, as is the two-light window above it (replacing one of three lights). The stair to the parvise of the south porch is contained in a semi-hexagonal tower to the right of this which has one tiny window.
The south porch has a door in the south wall which is now blocked. This has a pointed arch and square dripstone with shields in the spandrels. In the wall above is a window to light the parvise, having two lights under a square dripstone and a niche between them; the niche comes lower than the window sills and has a canopy to cover a statue and a plinth for it to land on, but the statue itself is gone. The flints on this wall are roughly squared. The lower floor of the porch is lit by paired windows in the lateral walls with cinquefoiled heads under a square dripstone as elsewhere, and there is an additional single-light window of similar style in the west wall of the parvise.
The south wall of the nave has three large Perpendicular windows, all.of three lights with panel tracery in the heads. The main lights are stepped, the centre one being lower than the other two. The only difference in detail is that the eastern window has little castellations on the transoms of the side lights. The windows are separated into bays by buttresses and the aisle, unlike the north side of the nave, rests on a plinth.
The chancel is a 19th century reconstruction, but appears to largely preserve medieval features.
The east wall is rather featureless, having no buttresses or ornamentation. The window has three lights with cinquefoiled heads with quatrefoils above, and is under a hood-mould. The north wall of the chancel has two windows separated by a buttress. Both are of two lights, but one has curvilinear tracery and the other panel tracery in the head. At the junction of the nave with the chancel there is a projection which evidently once housed the rood-stair but now has been reconstructed to make an entrance to either nave or chancel. It is set back twice and resembles an overlarge buttress.
The north wall of the nave has one buttress mid-way along it and four windows. Three of these have identical tracery like that in the windows on the south side of the church, but the one nearest the west end has tracery wia simpler panels in the head, omitting the leaf design which appears in the central part of the others. Also the main lights of it do not have transoms, flowing more easily into the tracery above. The buttress is similar to that at the west end, set off three times before disappearing at the eaves. The roofs of the nave and tower are tiled, while the chancel is slated.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the church has been divided since the restoration in 1953 so that the nave is a church hall and the south aisle is divided into rooms; one to each bay, The chancel is kept as a chapel. The partitions are solid in the lower parts with doors for communicationand in the upper part are glazed so that it is still possible to feel the whole area of the western part of the buiding. The chancel arch is filled with a permanent wall. The door leads into a small square room which is the west bay of the south aisle. The porch and parvise are on the right and the entrance to the nave is on the left.
The north wall of the nave has four windows, each set within an arched recess so that an arcaded effect is achieved. This is found elsewhere in Norwich (cf. St. Peter Hungate) and gives a touch of nobility and spaciousness by simple means. Since the south arcade has been filled with partitions, the effect there is rather similar. This arcade, however, is higher than that on the north wall. The floor has been paved with composition tiles, and a stage has been erected against the blocked chancel arch. The roof is of arch braced construction, borne on corbels carved as angels, very small. These are at the tops of attached columns which rise against the piers of the arcades along each wall. Some of the pews are still used as seating, but otherwise no fittings remain in the nave. The roof of the aisle.has carved decoration of a geometrical pattern in the spandrel's and one monument appears to remain in the easternmost room.
The chancel is entered by a door which communicates with the vestibule formed in the projection of the former rood-stair. It is well-lit by several large windows and has brown walls. Here too the windows are set within an arcade, two arches in the north wall and two on the south, the western one leading into the small side chapel. The east window is also within an arch, considerably more pointed than the others. The roof is of pine, panelled between the rafters and purlins. The floor is stone with ledgers set among the flags, but the wooden base on which the pews stand covers almost all of it. A narrow arch from the south aisle communicates with the chapel.
Fixtures and fittings
Reredos
The reredos, by J.P. Chaplin, is a plain wooden rectangle with the text from the Easter Anthems 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.'
Churchyard
Grid reference: TG 227 91
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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