Record Details

NHER Number:553
Type of record:Building
Name:St Mary Coslany's Church, Norwich

Summary

An 11th and 15th century cruciform church with a round west tower. Redundant and used as a craft centre for a number of years, it is now the offices of an internet bookshop and a publishing company.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 22825 09130
Map Sheet:TG20NW
Parish:NORWICH, NORWICH, NORFOLK

Full description

St Mary Coslany's Church.

Rebuilt 1477. In existence by at least 1175 to 86.
Norwich Record Society 1932, 131, II.
R.R. Clarke (NCM).

1954. Listed Grade I.
Listing Description Excerpt:
"Former parish church, now redundant. Early 11th century and 15th century. Flint with stone dressing. Lead roofs. West tower, nave and chancel. North and south transepts. South porch. Round tower with two-light windows having central shaft and remade twin triangular arches. Four-bay nave… "
Information from (S1).
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S1) for the current details.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2017. Amended H. Hamilton (HES), 8 November 2019.

1970s or 1980s. Building Survey.
Examined as part of Norwich Survey.
See draft reports (S2) and (S3) for further details. See also record forms (S4) for copies of photographs.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2017.

September 1974. Building Survey.
Church assessed by Council for Places of Worship ahead of proposed closure.
See report (S5) for further details including lists of furnishings, fittings and monuments.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2017.

1983. Building Survey.
Exterior survey of bell openings and possibly other parts of the church by The Friends of the Norwich Churches.
See preliminary report on architectural history (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2017.

October 1985. Watching Brief.
Contractors' excavation at west end of church outside round tower, to the north of the tower. Trenches to a depth of 1.00m uncovered substantial flint footings north of the tower. Consisted of a wall 0.90m high constructed of large, generally rounded, flints in a pinky white hard speckly mortar with common small flint inclusions.
Photographs taken in black and white and on colour transparency (S7).
Plan in file.
No report produced. See (S8) for further details and photographs .
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 5 December 2017.

(S9) states that the arch of the south porch is by the Wiveton mason; John Hall was buried in it in 1466 giving a terminus ante quem. There are bequests to the south transept in 1464 and to the vestry and north transept in 1466.
E. Rose (NLA), 22 December 2000.

The church was reglazed in 1643 probably indicating that stained glass had been removed. (S10).
E. Rose (NLA), 25 April 2005.

However (S11) states that this is not the case as most of the glass from here went in the reign of Edward VI.
E. Rose (NLA), 4 October 2005.

The antiquarian Farrer in the early 19th century found monumental brasses (including one from Horsham St Faith!) lying loose in the vestry; they had vanished by the later 19th century, showing that such losses are not always due to 17th century iconoclasm (S12).
E. Rose (NLA), 11 October 2005.

Monument Types

  • BUILDING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • CHURCH (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • CHURCH (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Article in Serial: Boileau, J. P. 1864. Returns of Church Goods in the Churches of the City of Norwich, 6 Edward VI. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol VI pp 360-378. pp 367-369.
---Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No N29; p 175.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 20 NW 197.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N. and Wilson, B. 1997. Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. pp 244-245.
---Website: Knott, S.. 2006. St Mary Coslany, Norwich. http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichmarycoslany/norwichmarycoslany.htm. 3 April 2007.
---Leaflet: Norwich Historic Churches Trust & HEART. St Mary Coslany, St Mary's Plain..
---Article in Serial: L`Estrange, J. 1872. The Church Goods of St. Andrew and St. Mary Coslany, in the City of Norwich. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol VII pp 45-78.
---Article in Serial: Hotblack, J. T. 1910. The Church of St Mary Coslany, Norwich. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XVII pp 31-41.
---Record Card: NCM Staff. 1973-1989. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card - Norwich.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Norwich - Post Roman.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---*Rolled Plan: Large Plan Exists.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Illustration: Stannard, J. [unknown]. Drawing of St Mary's Church, Coslany, Norwich.
---Photograph: [Unknown]. 1906. Photograph of St Mary's Church, Coslany, Norwich.
---Photograph: Norwich Survey Staff. 1984. Photographs of interior and exterior of St Mary's Church, Coslany, Norwich.
<S1>Designation: Historic England. National Heritage List for England. List Entry 1372513.
<S2>Unpublished Report: Woodman, F. [unknown]. St Mary Coslany.
<S3>Unpublished Document: [Unknown]. [unknown]. St Mary's Church, Coslany, Norwich [draft report].
<S4>Recording Form: Norwich Survey building record forms.
<S5>Unpublished Document: Council for Places of Worship. 1974. Norwich, St Mary Coslany (Norwich).
<S6>Unpublished Document: The Friends of the Norwich Churches. 1983. Preliminary report on the architectural history of St Mary's Church, Coslany.
<S7>Photograph: Ayers, B. 1985. CWN, Frames 1-4. St Mary Coslany Church, Norwich.
<S8>Recording Form: Norfolk Museum Service and Norfolk Historic Environment Service Staff. 1974?-2016. Data Transfer Forms. Norfolk County Council. NHER 553.
<S9>Article in Serial: Fawcett, R.. 1982. St Mary Wiveton.. Antiq Journal. Vol LXII. p 42.
<S10>Publication: Spraggon, J. 2003. Puritan Iconoclasm during the English Civil War.
<S11>Monograph: Cooper, T.. 2001. The journal of William Dowsing: iconoclasm in East Anglia during the English Civil War.. p 121.
<S12>Monograph: Cooper, T.. 2001. The journal of William Dowsing: iconoclasm in East Anglia during the English Civil War.. p 126; footnote 36.

Related records

Site 2141Parent of: Church of St Mary Coslany (Monument)
Site 2596Parent of: Church of St Mary Coslany (Monument)
Mon 291Parent of: St Mary Coslany Church (Monument)
Mon 1448Parent of: St Mary Coslany Churchyard (Monument)
Mon 1141Parent of: St Mary's Coslany Church (Early Church) (Monument)
Site 1845Parent of: St. Marys Church, St Marys Plain (Monument)

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