On the northern side of the Church, the original north porch still exists, and the great West Door is still in place. The internal length of the Nave is 109ft., and the Chancel 60ft. All walls are two feet thick, and the stone screen, or Rood Loft, separating the Nave from the Chancel, is seven feet in depth from east to west, without its buttresses. The style is characteristic of the period and is entirely that known as ‘Perpendicular’ in which the great areas of wall space are occupied by large windows, with vertical lines of tracery (a pattern of interlacing ribs). Tall slender pillars on unusually high bases form the arcades (the arches and their supporting columns) and all the mouldings are shallow. The most remarkable feature is the absence of cusping (carving at the point where two arches meet each other) in the windows.
The roofs are almost all original internally, though some new timber was inserted in the roof of the Nave in 1893-7. Outside, the roofs were re-leaded in 1892-3 by Hugh Earl Fortesque and Walter Martin, Agent and their names and dates can be seen embossed on both North and South Transept roofs. The Chancel roof was originally stone tile but this was replaced by lead during the major restoration carried out between 1988 and 2000.
Some of the Angels on the brackets which support the beautifully carved arches in the Chancel are holding in their left arms symbols representing the Passion; one figure bears the nails, another the cross, the spear, the reed, the crown of thorns, and the last figure bears the spoon. In the south side of the Chancel the Sedilia is of very fine workmanship, and a Piscina (a stone basin) above which can be seen a squint now blocked with a piece wood, which enabled the High Altar to be seen from the Cloisters. Above is a cornice charged with various animals.
The Sedilia were for the Priest, Deacon and Sub-Deacon to rest upon whilst, the “Gloria in Excelcis”, and other parts of the Mass were chanted. The Piscina is formed within a recess to the left of the stalls, with an orifice connecting directly to a drain, so that such portions of the consecrated elements that were not consumed would be carried off by the drain to prevent their pollution by irreverent hands. Other Piscina can be seen in a recess on the north side of the stone screen, next to the Altar now kept by the Royal British Legion, on the right hand side of the Altar dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, in the stone screen, and in the Chapel in the South Transept dedicated to Our Lady
The medieval coloured glass was sold to the Earl of Exeter, who agreed to pay a sum in order to replace the Chancel and other windows with clear glass. It would seem, however, that even in those days, not every one could be trusted as the Bank Draft for £50, the price settled on between parties, went missing! In fact the cost of replacing the glass in the Chancel could have been achieved for as little as £40, but the Steward of the then Lord of the Manor of Tattershall, Lord Fortesque, reneged on the promise explaining, “it would only please the people who have no concern in the matter, as the Chancel belongs entirely to my Lord”.
As a result the Chancel was left open to the ravages of “the weather and wildfowl” and all the Return Stalls and medieval furniture rotted. The glass in the windows of the North, West and East walls of the Nave was replaced, while the North and South Transept windows were bricked up until around 1900. The majority of the ‘lost’ medieval glass that can be traced is to be found in St. Martin’s Church, Stamford; there is some also in Burghley House, Stamford and a few panes in Warwick Castle. The rest is in places unknown. |
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