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St John the Baptist, Danbury

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I first came to Danbury early on a gloomy, wet, late October morning in 2012, and so clearly I was never going to see the setting and exterior at its best. This is a large, principally 14th Century church, its tall, elegant spire a landmark for miles in the area between Chelmsford and the Dengie Peninsula. On this day it seemed a rather austere and serious building, set at the highest point of its little town, the 19th Century south aisle built out of puddingstone, obviously dredged from the nearby Blackwater. But despite everything the waether could throw at it, I found this a particularly welcoming church. A sign at the gate, a full three feet high, said Church always open in daylight hours, and at the west end a metal sign bolted to the door read This Church is Open Every Day - Please Come in. inside the porch under the tower it said You are always welcome here. So thank you to all in Danbury parish for that. The most striking thing on stepping inside to the wide, roomy nave is the range of bench ends. There are good medieval ones in the East Anglian style, and (dare I say it?) even better ones from Scott's 19th Century restoration, and others made by villagers through into the 1930s, depicting the usual traditional subjects, but also local girl guides, owls, elephants, sphinxes and so on. All jolly good. There are three memorable wooden 13th century effigies of knights, though perhaps not as impressive as those at Little Horkesley, and a beautiful relief of the Annunciation from the 1920s. Carl Edwards' 1955 east window for Powell and Sons is full of sapphire and emerald light, and very successful, showing that the workshop could still produce the best after some dodgy moments between the wars, especially with such a competent artist taking time out from the restoration of the City of London churches. On this dull day the overwhelming 19th century restoration added a hint of gloom and might have made this feel an urban, anonymous place, but in fact it helps throw all these jewels into relief, making this a sparky, lovely place. Simon Knott, May 2020 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

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