I wonder how the people of Norfolk felt during the great period of Perpendicular church-building. Were there those who mourned over their Saxon and Norman churches? Did people roll their eyes at yet more pointy arches? In the alehouses of fifteenth century East Anglia, were there people muttering among themselves, ‘Not another clerestory?’
Today’s walk featured three churches which have substantial Saxon remains. I referenced Mark Chatfield’s Churches the Victorians Forgot last week. St Mary and All Saints, Newton-by-Castle Acre might be described as a church the Middle Ages forgot.
Newton Church
Like many people travelling to North Norfolk, I have passed this church many, many times on the A1065. It is set back slightly from the main road, effectively in its own layby. I’ve wanted to visit it for years, but it feels odd to pause a journey when you’re half-an-hour from your destination, as we tend to be when we reach this point.
I’ve always thought it looked a little lonely, a church which doesn’t really fit into the Norfolk landscape, seemingly dumped by the side of a busy road. But the minute you step into the churchyard, all that is forgotten. If, like me, you use the road between Fakenham and Swaffham a lot, I urge you to stop here.
Interior, Newton
Inside and out, you cannot escape the fact that you are in an ancient place of Christian worship. It’s one long rectangle – of course it is, it’s a Saxon church – with a pepper-pot central tower. Most of the windows and doorways have been rebuilt. But the rounded arch leading under the tower into the chancel is unmistakably original. There are hints of County Durham's Escomb.
Most old churches have trip hazards. Newton is more about slip hazards. There is obviously no dampcourse here, and the floor is green with age. Somehow it makes it all the more romantic. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a building unloved. The Norfolk Churches Trust recently made grants for repairs. I find it exhilarating praying in a church like this, adding my voice to a millennium of prayer.
The view from Winchester Hill
To avoid walking along the main road, I took a footpath which zigzagged across it, initially climbing Winchester Hill. (It is not often one climbs a hill in Norfolk, and these are very much relative terms.) The undulating landscape behind me provided stunning views towards Castle Acre. Nettles are a problem on rarely-used footpaths at this time of year. Trying to cross Grove Common was a challenge. I startled a deer only a few feet away. ‘Look at me,’ he seemed to say in retort, as he leapt effortlessly over the nettles onto the path I was trying to access. In the end, I had to unfold my OS map into a mat to walk over.
East Lexham
More Saxon at St Andrew, East Lexham, which purportedly has the oldest round tower in the country. The church guide dates it around 900, and also claims that the equally round churchyard denotes a Pagan site adopted by Christians. The sheep who graze in the churchyard – the church sits, idyllic, on a farm – do not seemed phased by the veracity of these assertions.
In contrast to things very ancient, inside the church are three twenty-first century paintings by Richard Foster. The Nativity and St Andrew occupy a bricked-up window and a niche respectively on the south side of the chancel. The Rising from the Dead, inspired surely by Stanley Spencer’s Resurrection at Cookham, hangs on the east wall. All three portray their subjects in a contemporary style. Christ is born in a barn constructed from Norfolk flint; St Joseph wears a Barbour jacket. Andrew carries freshly-caught fish, all the world like he’s a Weybourne fisherman; give him a note and he'd start a shanty. The artist spent some of his childhood in the adjacent farmhouse. I think they are very effective.
Richard Foster's Nativity at East Lexham
Now on the north side of the Nar, I returned westwards to St Nicholas, West Lexham, and another Saxon tower. Restored and painted white in 2018, it's hard to believe it's so old. But look at the bell openings and windows, bricked up and patched up. The rest of the church was rebuilt in the nineteenth century.
There’s a Richard Foster here too. At first I thought it depicted the risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene, but it is actually an Annunciation set in an English country garden. The angel wears white plimsolls, a wheelbarrow leaning against the wall behind him. Mary kneels on the ground, an open book discarded next to her. The latest bestseller, or was she reading Isaiah 7? Bearded irises flower behind Mary, as they do now in the neat gardens leading me onwards.
West Lexham
The three villages visited so far have a combined population of less than 200. I re-crossed the main road to what seemed like a metropolis in comparison. At one end of Castle Acre is the ruined Norman castle. At the other are the substantial remains of eleventh century Cluniac priory. This must have been a place of immense strategic importance, sitting on both the Peddars Way (a Roman road from Colchester to Brancaster) and the pilgrimage route to Walsingham. The latter has recently been revived in Andy Bull’s London to Walsingham Camino.
St James, Castle Acre sits midway between castle and priory. It is a large and beautiful church, and we are back on safe, fifteenth century territory here. The first thing you notice on entering is the fine perpendicular font canopy. It's 26 feet tall. Other fifteenth century gems are the pulpit, with screen-like panels depicting the Four Doctors of the Church, and the base of the rood screen itself depicting eight of the apostles.
Part of the screen, Castle Acre
Appropriately, given its location, this is a pilgrim’s church. It is dedicated to St James, and his scallop shell – the pilgrim’s identifier – appears everywhere. Throughout the church there are prompts to pray: at the holy water stoup, in front of the (modern and very striking) statue of Our Lady, before the Reserved Sacrament. By the (also modern) statue of St James gathering his nets is a prayer of blessing for pilgrims. The church guide was revised last month, and is very tastefully produced. This is a church community which understands what its church is for.
I wandered down to the priory. It was too late to make the admission fee worthwhile. In March last year I walked a circular route from here to South Acre and West Acre. These churches are both worth visiting, and the route also takes you past the remains of a chapel and the ruins of the Augustinian priory, both near West Acre. The road between South and West Acre is very boring, but the Nar Valley Way footpath back to Castle Acre more than makes up for it. Another time I’d like to combine these two walks, and include the priory at Castle Acre.
The castle at Castle Acre
This was a walk which took me to ancient places, which have been prayer-soaked for centuries. As with so many of my walks, I am finding gentle encouragement in the things which are happening now: the care of the church in Newton, the contemporary art in both Lexhams, the intentionality of prayer in Castle Acre. Without these things my walks might simply be history trails. Instead, they truly are pilgrimages.
Or extend to include South and West Acre: 13.5 miles https://explore.osmaps.com/route/21534311/acres-and-lexhams
Comments