St Margaret of Antioch, Margaret Roding

St Margaret of Antioch, Margaret Roding

On the occasion of a friends wedding recently, I had the opportunity to stay in a B&B in Margaret Roding. The Rodings, as they are known, are a series of villages on the road between Bishops Stortford and Chelmsford. They're not really part of "my patch" but not to worry...

The B&B, Garnish Hall, was interesting enough; a 14th century manor house. What really caught my eye, however, was the church next door. On the face of it, a parish church typical for small villages all over the place; it most likely would have been originally built for the lord of the manor with the chancel added when it was opened up to the wider community. What was most remarkable about it was this doorway:

To my eye, it seems completely out of keeping with the rest of the church and is quite unlike anything I've seen elsewhere. Unfortunately the need to get to the wedding reception meant that I was unable to take up the offer of a look inside, and the reason behind why a small parish church should have such a striking door will, for the moment at least, remain a mystery.