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.

Easter Walk '11: St Margaret's Bowers Gifford

(Click on the photo to see more pictures at the Flickr site)

First stop on the walk was the St Margaret's church, Bowers Gifford. Although there may have been an earlier church here, the stone-built one has it's origins in the early 14th century when it was built by the lord of the manor, Sir John Giffard. As is always the case with churches of this age, it shows the signs of a number of modifications over the years including the tudor bell tower (the bells are apparently still the original 14th century ones).

The thing that I don't understand is why the church is where it is. Looking at the OS map, it is on an area of low ground and in the 14th century would probably have been uncomfortably close to the marshes. It is some distance from the location of the manor house, whilst the present day village of Bowers Gifford is further away still. Perhaps the medieval village was in a different location, or perhaps Giffard didn't want to use prime land for the building of the church?