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St Mary, West Bergholt

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West Bergholt is a largish commuter village about three miles from Colchester, but its old church lies a good mile further west, a sweetly remote spot down a quiet lane and beside the Hall, its churchyard separated from the Hall grounds by a long yew hedge. The exterior of the church is most attractive, a low-lying structure, the nave, aisle and chancel making a harmonious group with a wooden bell stage rising behind as you approach from the east. The church fell into disuse in the 20th Century after a new church was built in the middle of the village, but in 1976 it became one of the first tranche of churches taken on by the Redundant Churches Fund, today the Churches Conservation Trust. This is an ancient spot. James Bettley, revising the Buildings of England volume for Essex, pointed out that the north wall is essentially that of the 11th Century church which includes a blocked Saxon doorway. As you'd expect this close to Colchester, the materials used on this wall include reused Roman tiles as well as river rubble from the coastal estuaries not so very far away. The 13th and 14th Centuries saw the rebuilding of the chancel and the addition of an aisle and arcade and then the bell tower shortly before the Reformation. A simple building quietly unfolding over a period of almost half a millennium. You step into an equally simple and yet atmospheric interior, the Georgian west gallery lending its character to the furnishings below, the cast iron royal arms of George IV on the front marking its construction in the 1820s. Turning east, the whole nave is dominated by another set of royal arms, one of the largest in Essex, painted onto the tympanum that marks the transition from nave to chancel. It is dramatic in such an otherwise quietly-spoken space. It is to James I, the colours mostly faded after four centuries but the dark red background throwing everything into relief. Below the shield is the motto Exurgat Deus Dissipentur Inimici, 'Rise up oh God and scatter my enemies', a Latin tag which I have to say is very satisfying to mutter under your breath at difficult times. The only coloured glass is FC Eden's 1932 east window of the Resurrection, rather busier than much of his work but thankfully making his usual good use of clear glass. Appropriately for such a rustic and homely space there are no memorials to important landed families, but rather to two 19th Century churchwardens. John Thompson Argent, for many years churchwarden of this parish, died in 1858 in Colchester, esteemed, honoured, loved, lamented and there lies buried. Robert Bradbrook of Cooks Hall had been churchwarden for 46 years when he died at the age of 88 in 1877. I'm sure that if either of those gentlemen could come back now and see their little church they would think it in good hands. Simon Knott, December 2021 Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

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