THE ESSEX CHURCHES SITE

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St Edmund, Ingatestone

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It was a wet start to the 2013 Essex Historic Churches bike ride. I'd arrived in Ingatestone early so that I could cycle out to Margaretting to see the church there before the event started, but as I returned to the busy little town the heavens opened, and sheets of grey rain weeped down from the low clouds. St Edmund is a mostly red brick church, with the less luxurious Essex materials of puddingstone and clunch showing there was something here before the almost complete rebuilding of the late 15th and early 16th Centuries. Essex is not short of red brick towers of course, but Ingatestone's is probably the best. As Pevsner observes, the impression inside is somewhat disappointing after the glory of the tower, but it was a relief to park my bike and head in out of the rain. There was a cosy feel to the interior, partly a result of the electric light filling the interior within the walls of coloured glass perhaps, but also the low nave roof (there is no clerestory) and the acres of 19th Century tiles, the work of Frederick Chancellor, an architect whose work does not generally stand up well at this distance in time, but the opulence here rather suits it. Despite the south aisle the nave feels narrow, and this accentuates the way the chancel opens out with a chapel on each side, creating the three gable ends at the east often found in south Essex and north Kent. Best seats in the house here go to the Petre family. Most imposing of all are the effigies of Sir William and Lady Anne Petre who have lain in state here since the 1570s. There seems to be some disagreement about who the sculptor was, Pevsner suggesting it may be by William Cure senior rather than the more famous Cornelius Cure who is commonly credited with the work. Other Petres are dotted around the walls, punctuated by glass of a reasonable quality, some of it by Clayton & Bell. But the best of the glass is in the south chancel chapel, an Arts and Crafts piece of the 1920s depicting scenes in the life of the Blessed Virgin and St Edmund. I wonder who it is by? Earlier survivals include a good Charles I royal arms and one of those 18th Century hour glass holders intended to ensure that a minister of the day couldn't get away with short-changing his listeners. Quite what he would have thought of Chancellor's elaborately carved stone pulpit I don't know. The people on duty here for the Historic Churches bike ride event were very friendly and helpful, and I thought that this must be a nice church to worship in, although perhaps I might prefer something a little plainer and simpler than the 19th Century's expensive and showy restoration. Simon Knott, May 2020 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

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