Hexagon Ppm Middle East

[Suyay Escarsega]

Ifyou need a reason to visit it, then it has that. It has one of only two Norman hexagonal tower in England. The other is at Swindon (village, not town) near Cheltenham. Both were commissioned by Roger de Berkeley who died in 1131. This one is an almost regular hexagon that looks more elegant than the example at Swindon which has broader western and eastern faces and is rather chunky and situated at the east end. Quite where Berkeley got the ideas we will never know but the look is Byzantine rather then Romanesque. Dare we imagine that Roger went on crusade and saw the architectural wonders of the Middle East ? Did he wish he could have a central domed church like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul only to find it was way beyond the capabilities of English or any other western European masons? Myra, to whose St Nicholas this church is dedicated, is in modern Turkey.

The church dates from the early part of the twelfth century but the tower was raised by an extra storey in the middle of the century. There are no floors within it and no ringing chamber, so it is like a lantern of light inside the church. The double light windows are still in-situ. In about 1220 a nave was added. The elaborate interlaced decoration of the new arch is little short of astonishing, as well as being unique. Again the original Early English lancet windows survive. One rather imagines that the masons did not appreciate having to bond the new walls to an angled tower but the quality of the arch carving suggests that the best masons were employed here. The south doorway is another joy to behold with its very avant-garde decoration and, yet, a strangely anachronistic round-headed arch. Looking at it, I tend to think that the sculptors decided that the round arch would suit the design better, in which case we are looking at the work of true artists. The font dates from that period too but, sadly and unusually for this church, it is of a utilitarian rather than elaborate design

In the fourteenth century the apsidal east end was rebuilt and extended by about eight feet to the rectangular profile we see today. Although we cannot reasonably say that this phase too was the work of the finest masons, the building shows commendable restraint: the roof height matches that of the nave and the length is just right. The nave, however, was itself extended by about twelve feet in the nineteenth century. Before that time the chancel must have been longer than the nave but doubtless the ground floor of the tower was utilised to supplement its floorspace. Apart from the tower itself, the plan is simple but the overall effect is pleasing and it almost looks as if all of the building was constructed at the same time.

Finally, the churchyard is circular, telling us that the building was constructed on a pagan site. That suggests that an Anglo-Saxon building preceded this one. As you stand within that churchyard you are able to sense not only Christian spirituality but that of your much earlier predecessors. Who know what strange rituals were used here?

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