The Essex Churches Site

 

THE ESSEX CHURCHES SITE

home - index - latest - e-mail
links - small print - about this site
Norfolk churches - Suffolk churches
www.simonknott.co.uk

St John the Baptist, Little Maplestead

Little Maplestead

Little Maplestead Little Maplestead Little Maplestead

Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

 

Little Maplestead is one of the quietly domestic villages in the rolling landscape to the north of Halstead, but its church is unique in Essex and one of just five in the whole of England, for it was a church of a Preceptory of the Knights Hospitalliers, and they built their churches round. There are other survivals not far off in Cambridge and Northampton, there is the Temple church in London and one in Ludlow Castle, but that is all. The nave and chancel were built together in the early 14th Century, although it was likely along the lines of an earlier church of the early 12th Century.

James Bettley observes that those who believe in texture and the handiwork of the medieval mason will not be pleased by Little Maplestead, for there was an overwhelming restoration here at the hands of first RC Carpenter and then W Slater in the 1850s which including a refacing of the whole in a characterless expanse of flint. But at this distance there is an organic feel to the way the parts of the church flow into each other, and approaching up the churchyard path from the north-west in particular, the round nave rising to a wooden bell stage and conical cap, it is undeniably impressive.

You enter through the 14th Century west door directly into the round nave with its circular arcade, an aisle around the outside. The font with its primitive reliefs is an odd sight at first, until you realise that it was once a square 11th Century piece, and the corners have been cut off to suit the octagonal fashion of the later Middle Ages. It was presumably first installed in the original church. The round walls have another oddity, decalogue boards that are of necessity concave. The chancel beyond has a wooden beamed roof decorated with fleurons as across the fields at Great Maplestead. The windows of the chancel are filled with a sequence of coloured glass that would not disgrace a cathedral chapel, possibly by William Wailes. In general the church is bright and clean, lovingly cared for, and all in all a period piece.

Simon Knott, December 2021

Follow these journeys as they happen at Last Of England Twitter.

looking east from the round nave up at the holy end Little Maplestead
font looking west into the round nave Little Maplestead
nave ceiling nave apse ceiling
Knights Hospitallier tower (1850s) Lamb of God (1850s) curved decalogue
Christ at Gethsemane (1850s) The Kiss of Judas (1850s) Christ before Pilate (1850s) Christ is whipped (1850s)
Christ carries his cross and meets his mother (1850s) Christ at Calvary (1850s) Christ taken down from the cross (1850s) Christ laid in the tomb (1850s)

               
 
               
                 

The Churches of East Anglia websites are non-profit-making, in fact they are run at a loss. But if you enjoy using them and find them useful, a small contribution towards the costs of web space, train fares and the like would be most gratefully received. You can donate via Paypal.

                   
                     
                             

 

home - index - latest - e-mail
links - small print - about this site
Norfolk churches - Suffolk churches
www.simonknott.co.uk