Record Details

NHER Number:11091
Type of record:Building
Name:St Margaret's Church, Starston

Summary

St Margaret's Church dates to as early as the 15th century, although parts of the exterior and most of the interior were rebuilt during the 1870 restoration by Phipson. During this restoration a superlative wallpainting of a deathbed scene, believed to be medieval, was discovered in a walled up recess. Unfortunately this has since perished, although there is a copy held in the NCM Bolingbroke Collection. The church also holds a recently restored memorial to Bartholomew Cotton, who was part of the infamous Star Chamber, dated to 1613.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TM 2349 8438
Map Sheet:TM28SW
Parish:STARSTON, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

St Margaret's Church, Starston.

December 1959. Listed Grade I.
Listing Description:
Mainly 14th- and 15th-century fabric heavily restored in late 19th century. Nave with embattled parapet with flushwork and Perpendicular south windows. West tower with diagonal buttresses, embattled parapet with flushwork and two-light bell-openings. Victorian south porch with 15th-century doorway, incorporated, with fleurons on the jambs. North aisle built in 1870 in Perpendicular style. Late 19th-century chancel with Perpendicular windows and late 19th-century vestry on north side. 19th-century 3-bay north arcade. 15th-century arch-braced roof with moulded and crenellated wall-plate. Late 19th-century painted arch-braced chancel roof. 15th-century font with octagonal bowl with alternating shields and roses in sides and four lions against stem. Monuments: Bartholemew Cotton 1613 tablet with kneeling effigy. Robert Ferrier 1767, tablet with putto heads at the foot. Built of flint rubble with stone dressings, and with lead-clad and slate roofs.
Information from (S1).
P. Watkins (HES), 31 October 2018.

June 1981. Lychgate south-west of church listed Grade II.
Listing Description:
Late 19th-century lynchgate. Timber-frame with gabled tiled roof with pierced and shaped barge boards, each gable with king post and arch braced tie-beam. Sides with three arched bays with small pierced trefoils in spandrels. Ornate cresting on ridge tiles. Flint plinth.
Information from (S1).
P. Watkins (HES), 31 October 2018.

Pevsner (S2) mentions a Perp west tower and south porch with flushwork battlements and ornamented arches respectively, also south nave battlements. Carved Perp font. He notes no pre 15th century work. North aisle of 1870. Plate; chalice and paten 1567 in original case and chalice and paten 1691, all former property of Archbishop Sancroft. Cotton Monument 1613 and Ferrier monument 1767. District Council say church has some 12th century work but is mostly 14th century. Approximately 1870 a fine wall painting, said to be 13th or 14th century, depicting the Assumption?, was found in walled-up niche 4ft x 4ft (1.2m x 1.2m) in north wall nave; copy dated 1870 in NCM Bolingbroke Collection; original crumbled away. A stone coffin lid with cross, steps and omega on it was found and removed to the churchyard. (S3) noted a square tower, south porch, and a stone coffin.
E. Rose (NAU), 26 May 1982.

Newspaper cutting in file (S4).

Monument Types

  • CHURCH (Medieval to 21st Century - 1066 AD to 2100 AD)

Associated Finds

  • COFFIN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FONT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • WALL PAINTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • WALL PAINTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

  • Listed Building
  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Monograph: Bryant, T. H. 1899. Hundred of Earsham. The Churches of Norfolk. Vol III. pp 25-32.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 670.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Website: Knott, S.. St Margaret, Starston. http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/starston/starston.htm. 15 January 2007.
<S1>Designation: Historic England. National Heritage List for England. List Entries 1050064 and.
<S2>Monograph: Pevsner, N. 1962. North-West and South Norfolk. The Buildings of England. 1st Edition. p 326.
<S3>Documentary Source: Martin, T. c. 1700-1799. Collections of Church Notes. Norfolk Records Office. Walter Rye Collection. RYE 17.. c. 1740.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1990. Aftermath of tree crash on church. 2 March.

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