THE CHANCEL AND SANCTUARY
The east window is a strikingly broad five-light Perpendicular window whose tracery “perfectly matches the overall design of the nave” Its glass of 1876 by O’Connor and Taylor showing the Resurrection above and the Crucifixion below would have paled beside its original mediaeval beauty, but it is an honest piece of work in which the artist has tried to evoke the tragedy and then the glory of Christ’s last days, and despite its crude colouring and awkward draughtsmanship those who live with it come to appreciate it.
The organ was built in about 1840 by Gray & Davidson and was installed in the gallery under the tower in 1847, as may be seen in the sketch hanging on the pillar nearest the south door. It was moved to its present site in 1875. The instrument has been modified with extra pipes and restored at intervals: in 2006 it was given a new casing, and the blower repositioned behind it. It was rebuilt in 2022, and a 32-foot stop was added, which adds depth to the music. The manuals and couplers are tracker action, with the pedal organ and the pedal draw-stops on the console having electric action, which means that it is mainly mechanical, with the pedals having electrical contacts. There are seven speaking stops on the swell organ, eight on the great organ, and seven pedal stops. Those who play it speak highly of its musical quality.
The chancel and sanctuary underwent considerable work in 1865. The ceiling was replaced in oak, the sanctuary re-floored with Sicilian and black marble, and the reredos installed. It is made of Caen stone with Languedoc marble pillars, and grey marble side panels of the Lord’ Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Creed. The capitals of the columns are rather charming representations of plants symbolic in Christianity: they are, from the left, a rose (love, and hope, the Virgin Mary), ivy (eternal life), wheat ears and a grapevine (Jesus, and the elements of the Eucharist), a passion flower (crucifixion), and a lily (purity).. The lower part of the structure had been badly eroded by rising damp, and parts were repaired and replaced in 2009: the bases of the columns, Purbeck marble, had been particularly badly affected, and were all replaced with new stone. They were turned up on a lathe, and the tungsten tools used to shape them burned white hot during the work!
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To the right of the reredos, the piscina is 14th century.
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Either side of the sanctuary are two double stalls, which have clearly survived from the rood screen. Their backs show mediaeval paintwork as a background to the tracery, while underneath there is paintwork depicting parts of gowns. There is also a single stall, not painted, whose seat hinges backwards to show a misericord, the perch provided to support a man required to stand for many hours during religious services.
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