CHURCH LARKING - Wells Next The Sea Parish Church

 

Over the last two years St Nicholas has had external restoration work done, mainly in the tower. This prevented me from 'larking' it, because I always wish to show a church at its best. Preferably in the sort of bright sunshine and blue skies I was gifted with on this occasion. 

Now the moment you look at the exterior of this church you know something is quite a bit awry here. The main body of the church, though English Gothic, looks decidedly generic and relatively recent in execution. Very late Victorian I'd say. Whilst the tower bears all the hallmarks and stone wear of the mid to late fourteenth century. And, sure enough their is an informative plaque which tells you about an all consuming fire in 1879, caused by a lightening strike. All the medieval roof and interior was incinerated, leaving literally only the barest of bones, the external walls and tower.

1879 Photograph after the fire

Judging by the illustration and photo above, the original church did not have a clerestory at all, and was a simple narrow nave/chancel with side aisles. The architect responsible for rebuilding St Nicholas, Herbert Green made two slightly questionable choices. The original architecture of the ruined church looks largely to be in the late Decorated style from the 14th Century. Green has chosen to advance the clock by at least half a century later to a slightly more austere mid perpendicular which is 15th century. Adding a clerestory and a vaulted wooden roof, simply makes the whole interior of the church look absolutely vast, and a distinctly unwieldy space. I can imagine the congregation must feel a bit lost in this Gothic cavern. 

Moving the altar forward of the chancel, is a very modern thing to do, but I guess this might help it feel a bit more intimate. And it then doesn't have the gloomy chancel interior and a gargantuan clear glass window looming over it. Having sold off its church hall, the interior of the church is making a bad fist out of turning it into a multi purpose space, part children's nursery, part coffee club, part lounge area. I understand the practical necessity for this, but it makes the church interior look like a very messy group of squatters have moved in.

The really bland and unimaginative Gothic uniformity of the architectural interior of Wells Parish Church, makes it the prime contender for my new award for - The most architecturally boring church on the North Norfolk coast. There is so little of note here. Now if you go up the road to Holkham or inland to Glandford, you will find superb examples of what the Victorians, at their Gothic Revival best, could do with a church interior.  Here it no doubt ticked all the right boxes for the diocese, but aesthetically it is just dull dull dull. How could anyone make so many wrong choices and produce a church so devoid of spiritual atmosphere?

What is left of the original church, is largely the tower which maintains a degree of elegance and proportion. There are nice carved details on the tower doorway. There is a 13th century door and arch in the chancel with its beautifully preserved decorative details.  There is a large wooden chest from 1625, but little else. Most of the windows are Victorian patterned lead with greenish tinted opaque glass. There are insignia roundels in some of the nave windows, and a muted but fine splash of colour from one of the chancel side windows. But no stained glass worthy of note. A couple of nice figures of St Nicholas and of the Virgin Mary give you the sense that St Nicholas's might lean a tad towards the Anglo-Catholic..

Its clear, that though the expenditure of completely rebuilding the church was no doubt enormous, it was not so awash with money to splash out on a finely carved rood screen for instance to restrain the vastness a bit, or make that enormous chancel window resplendent with a glorious bombardment of awesome colour, so the area feels less dour, but has warmth and is inviting. I'm quite depressed by even the thought of this being used as a space for devotional ritual, its just so awful.