THE ESSEX CHURCHES SITE
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St Katherine, Little Bardfield
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We're in the gentle hills east of Thaxted, a land of delightful villages and surprisingly large churches. Little Bardfield has neither of these, being largely a straggle of houses along the road, and a lovely little church set back in the former park of the Hall. It's first impression on anyone approaching will be its magnificent 11th Century tower, possibly pre-Conquest, topped off with a perky little pyramid. The body of the church too shows evidence of its Saxon origins, although the rebuild of the 14th Century is mostly what we see now. St Katherine was an early star in the Anglo-Catholic firmament, and was lucky to receive its major 19th Century restoration at the hands of the great G F Bodley, who added the south aisle to the chancel. But there was more to come, because Richard Creed of the Hall was both an enthusiastic Anglo-Catholic and artist. He completed Bodley's interior as an uncompromising statement of early 20th Century Catholic belief and liturgy. The reredos and screen are Bodley's, the angel roof and rood are Creed's. Another rood group reset on the north wall came from a convent chapel, now closed, the community moving to Tottenhill in Norfolk.
Little Bardfield is a pilgrimage site for organ enthusiasts, for the organ here is that made for Jesus College chapel in Cambridge in 1688. It later moved to the medieval All Saints church in the city. Bodley was responsible for the replacement church in Jesus Lane, but finding the organ surplus to requirements there he installed it as part of his 1860s restoration here.
Perhaps most interesting of all is the small collection of brasses to Creed's design. The ecclesiological movement of the 19th Century sought to reintroduce the devotional furnishings of the late medieval Church, most significantly glass and brass. They succeeded with glass, as we can see by looking into almost any parish church, but brasses never quite caught on. However, there were small enthusiasms here and there, and St Katherine has four, including one to Creed himself.
Simon Knott, May 2020
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