Church Heritage Record 632372

Records at nearby Bushmead Priory suggest a chapel existed in Colmworth in 1187. In 1290 there was written evidence of a dedicated church building on the present site and this was verified by an archaeological dig in the church in 1988 with sherds dated to the 12th century. The archaeology revealed that the north, south and west nave walls were demolished and rebuilt outside the original lines to form the walls of the present church c 1430.

The church in its present form comprises a chancel, vestry, nave, south porch and west tower. The chancel and vestry are the oldest part of the church and are constructed of field stones set in a course mortar. The chancel contains a rare, three-centred piscina with a double drain which dates it to the early 14th century. There is a brass on the south wall, dated 1389, in memory of Lady Ailianora Braybrook.

The vestry has a single east window, its reticulated tracery also suggesting a 14th century date. The  piscina, aumbry and two squints, angled to give a view of the high altar, identify the vestry as the site of the Lady Chapel.

The present nave is built of a mixture of limestone and fieldstones and the mortar is a coarse lime mortar with lots of fine gravel inclusions. The north-east corner of the nave houses stairs leading up to a now non-existent rood screen, part of the medieval church. There were three altars in the church and documentary evidence for the three priests necessary to officiate.

The date of the tower is 15th century, therefore built within the same century as the nave, but the quality of the stone and workmanship is a higher grade, suggesting it has the hallmark of a wealthy benefactor. The stone of the tower is different from that of the nave and the stones are more uniform. Above the level of the buttresses, it is clear that the tower abuts against the west wall of the nave and must have been built after the nave.

The south porch was also built in the 15th century but after the tower and was not finished to its original plan (visible in the nave are sides and top of a window or door, confirming that the porch was originally intended to have two storeys).

There is a moderately significant stone tomb in the churchyard which holds the remains of The Reverend Timothy Matthews. He was ordained as a priest in 1819 and was licensed as curate for the parishes of Bolnhurst and Colmworth from 1880-1830.  He was a controversial figure and great evangelist who believed he should be preaching to a wider community. He bought a bugle which he allegedly blew to summon crowds to open-air services over a wide area and this bugle is now stored in the vestry. There are also gravestones for his wife and her sister, who emigrated to America in 1832 and married the founder of the Mormon Faith before returning to Colmworth at the end of her life. St Denys church is open daily and signatures and comments in the Visitors book indicate several visitors from America who have been researching Mormon history.

Two other families played an important role in the history of the church; Sir Gerard Braybrook rebuilt the present medieval nave in the new Perpendicular style but died in 1429, before it was completed.

Sir William Dyer died in 1621 and his widow, Lady Katherine Dyer, commissioned the Dyer monument in 1641 in his memory. This outstanding, highly significant and nationally recognised monument is on the north wall of the chancel and is exquisitely carved in alabaster and Italian black marble. It was completed 20 years after he died and on the back of it is a poem, written by Lady Dyer, which is reported to be one of the finest early examples of poetry written by a woman. The monument is in need of significant conservation and restoration.

Colmworth is a rural village and until the last century the majority of the church community would have worked in agriculture. Over the last 50 years the number of people working in agriculture has declined significantly and in 2005 the village school closed. There are now few families attending church services and there is an ageing, but faithful church congregation. There is however a lot of support in the village for the church building and an active ‘Friends of St Denys’ group raises funds for church restoration. The bell-ringing team has recently been revived with several newcomers learning to ring. There are regular, well-supported social events held in the church, making use of a large, versatile area in the nave.

This outstanding church is a large, Grade 1 listed, pure Perpendicular-style church which was built between 1425 and 1429 in the centre of the village of Colmworth by the wealthy Lord of the Manor, Sir Gerard Braybrook. There is evidence

(confirmed by an archaeological dig in the 1980s) of an earlier 12th century church - foundations were found inside the nave, in line with the chancel.

The church in its present form comprises a chancel, vestry, nave, south porch and west tower with a 156’ spire. It is the tallest spire in Bedfordshire and is visible for many miles in all directions. The existing churchyard is nearly full and includes the moderately significant tomb of Timothy Matthews, who was a curate of the church from 1818 – 1830. The path through the churchyard leads to a ⅓ acre churchyard extension and is a permissive path allowing access to Colmworth Country Park. This 36-acre area of parkland was bought and is maintained by the local community. The access path passes in front of the south door of the church and visitors to the park frequently visit the church too.

The tower, which is situated at the west end of the church, holds six bells which were restored in 1984 and, because of their excellent quality, are sought out by teams of visiting ringers. Above the ground floor ringing chamber is a first-floor sound-deadening chamber and third-floor belfry. The spire above the belfry is octagonal, with three tiers of lucarnes. The church appears to be constructed with course limestone rubble with some fieldstones and cobblestones (mainly to the chancel), ashlar spire and ashlar dressings.

The nave is an exceptionally large, airy, light, essentially single-celled space. There are only six other late medieval churches designed essentially as single cell spaces. The north-east corner of the nave houses stairs which lead up to a now non-existent rood screen. The nave roof had a single-ply roof membrane installed in 1974. This deteriorated significantly in 2019/20 and, following heavy storms, there was a large ingress of rainwater. A temporary roof covering was put in place and the church was put on the Historic England at Risk Register (Category A). Both the chancel and south porch have traditional lead roofs.

 Under the roof, below the tie beams in the nave are carved wooden figures of human beings and angels supported by corbels. These figures are very rare and highly significant; the eight angels in the roof are carrying the instruments of Christ’s Passion, telling the story of Christ’s journey along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary. The ten human figures carry messages of different Biblical stories and the corbels supporting them perhaps represent the ignorant believer. These figures have been dendrochronologically dated between 1454 and 1486. The corbels are crudely carved and possibly made in a local workshop.

There are embattled parapets around the chancel, nave, vestry, porch and tower. The condition of the parapets is vulnerable in that they are fairly slender and, in some places, eroded.

There are ten tall windows supported by large buttresses. Those in the nave are made up of diamond-shaped panes of plain glass which create a beautifully airy interior. The chancel windows are all of 15th century style; the north window holds a medieval stained-glass archangel, believed to be the work of Coventry master-glass painter John Thornton (1405-1433). The large east window and the two south windows are all Victorian.  The stained glass was installed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, leading exponents of Gothic-revival stained glass in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The stonework around the south windows is showing significant signs of deterioration.

The vestry is to the north of the chancel and inside the vestry is an unusual single drain piscina and double squint. There is a rare, double-drain early 14th century piscina in the chancel and these support the existence of an earlier chancel.

There are seven doors in the church; the two door arches in the chancel (the priest’s door and the vestry door) and the door arch in the bell-tower are both late 15th century in style but the doors themselves are very narrow and might date back to the original church. The main south door is thought to date back to the 17th century.

In 1988 Death Watch Beetle was found throughout the building. Affected wood was destroyed and unaffected wood, including pew-ends, was used to make a gallery and screen with tiered floor, to provide additional seating. A small servery, a toilet and choir vestment room were installed under the gallery. The servery and toilet need upgrading and modernising.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

In the mid 19thcentury, boxed family pews were replaced with new oak pews and an underfloor hot air heating system fed by a boiler was installed. This was later replaced by electrically heated pipes in each of the pews and then by the electric wall heaters which are in use today.

Bell Tower

There are six bells in the bell tower of exceptional quality. The oldest two bells, numbers 5 and 6, were made in 1635. The most recent, the Treble Bell, was made in 1985. The bells were tuned and hung with new fittings in a frame for six bells in 1988 by John Taylor & co (Bellfounders) Ltd.

Nave

Under the roof, below the tie beams in the nave are ten carved wooden figures of human beings and angels supported by corbels. These figures are highly significant.  Some of the figures, created in an urban workshop, carry the instruments of Christ’s passion and are dated between 1454 and 1486. The corbels are crudely carved and were probably made in a local workshop. Two of the figures, along with the corbels beneath them, were removed because on close inspection they were considered unsafe. They are at present residing in the vestry.

There is a significant, single drain piscina on the south wall with an ogee arched trefoil head (14th century so probably re-used when the nave was rebuilt in the 15th century) and a squint on the small wall between the nave and chancel.

This highly significant antique Jacobean carved oak chest served for many years as a nave altar but is now positioned near the south door.

The moderately significant octagonal font is 15th            

Century and stands on a circular plinth.

An oak table with barleysugar legs was donated to the church and sits near the south door alongside the cupboard which stores all the hymn books and service sheets. The area at the back of the nave is tiled but the rest of the floor is covered by carpet tiles. When internal restoration was carried out in 1988, the floor was concreted, as advised at the time. It is now thought that this might be contributing to damp, which affects the walls of the nave and chancel.

There are 10 portable oak pews.

The original carved choir stalls provided the wood for two portable Priest’s pews (one in the nave and one in the chancel).

There are 50 green leather-seated chairs in the nave (and chancel) and 20 stackable chairs in the gallery.

The organ was built in 1874 by KH Breedon of Bletchley. It was restored and moved from the west end of the church up to the gallery after the gallery was constructed in 1988. However, in 2003 a portable organ was purchased and positioned at the north-east end of the nave.

Chancel                          

The Dyer monument is situated on the north wall of the chancel, between the vestry door and the east window. This outstanding monument of high historical significance was commissioned by Lady Katherine Dyer in memory of her late husband, Sir William Dyer, who died in 1621. A poem inscribed at the back of the tomb is believed to be one of the most significant poems written by a woman in this country at that time, an opinion substantiated by the eminent historian, John Julius Norwich (The Right Honourable Viscount Norwich). He described the monument as ‘one of the most significant monuments in Great Britain’ Exquisitely carved in alabaster and Italian black marble, the tomb was erected in 1641, twenty years after Sir William’s death.

Under the canopy lie the effigies of Sir William and his wife. Both accurately record the clothing of the time and the ceremonial armour of a knight. She wears an elegant dress of the period. Her hair is beautifully styled and her head rests on a skull. The emblems on Sir William’s armour include a ram’s head, shells and a leopard’s head, all of which are of significance.

Below, on a panelled base, are the figures of Hope, Faith and Charity and between them stand the four sons and three daughters. Their attitudes are effectively varied and the workmanship is far removed from the dull mechanical work so often found of that period. The girls are dressed in similar dresses to their mother. The sons show an interesting difference of dress; two are dressed as Royalists and two as Parliamentarians. The daughters hold large handkerchiefs and may be weeping for the divided family.

There are several large cracks in the marble and the monument is in need of significant conservation and repair

The chancel windows are of 15th century style; the north window holds a medieval stained-glass angel, believed to be the work of Coventry master-glass painter John Thornton (1405-1433).

The stained glass of the stunning, large East window is Victorian (1883) and depicts the Visitation of the Magi. This window was restored in 2015 following deterioration of the load-bearing uprights.

The stained glass of the two south windows is also Victorian. One, dated 1893 depicts “The Presentation in the Temple” and the second (1897) depicts “Jesus in the temple”. The glass was installed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, leading exponents of Gothic-revival stained glass in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The stonework around the south windows is showing significant signs of deterioration.

The chancel contains a piscina with a three-centred arch under an ogee head, dated to the early 14th century. It is highly significant and rare in that it has a double drain.

The altar rail is oak on wrought-iron supports and there is a brass lectern which was provided by parishioners in 1906. The area around the altar is tiled and the floor space west of the altar rail is covered by carpet tiles which are in poor condition.

Vestry

The vestry has a single east window. It contains a single drain piscina with an aumbry above. To the west of this is a highly significant double squint. Both squints are angled to give a view of the high altar, although they are now blocked in the chancel by the 17th century Dyer monument. These details identify the vestry as the former Lady Chapel, mentioned in Sir Gerard Braybrook’s will of 1427.

The vestry houses a heavy iron safe in which are stored registers, the terrier and Communion plate, and the floor is carpeted.