Church of All Saints, Writtle (bit long, sorry)

Sited just off The Green in Writtle, All Saints Church as we see it today was, in the main, completed by around 1220 although with later additions, rebuilding and restoration after disasters including a collapse of the tower in 1800 and two more recent fires that cause quite a lot of interior damage.   The records of vicars goes back to the 13th C; however, there is some evidence that there was already an active church there when the Normans invaded.

The exterior is mostly ragstone rubble with some flint and ironstone and some Roman brick.  As I walked around the outside, there were plenty of interesting shapes, textures, doors and windows and now I've seen it all once, I need to go back to look more closely.  According to the info I have, there's a lot of things I didn't notice.

When they rebuilt the tower, which collapsed after years of neglect and some careless underbuilding, they used the original materials but shored them up with modern (for the time) brickwork.
It's not clear from the photo, but the bottom gravestone has what seems to be a skull and crossbones etched on it.

There's plenty of interesting things to see inside.  Here's a few of them.

This is the old Parish Chest of 1605.  It has three locks, one for each churchwarden and one for the vicar so all three had to be present in order to open it.  Apologies for the quality; the light was not great.

 There were some old, steep circular stone steps, mostly blocked off by a modern print picture, that now lead up to an opening in the wall but once led to the top of the rood screen.  You can see why they are blocked off - I'm sure the children would love to risk life and limb running up and trying to jump down.

Just in front of this stairway is the font.  It is extremely old, dating back to about 1170 although the base is from 1869.  Quite something to be baptised in that.  See that orange thing - that's what is blocking off the stairway - perhaps they could have found something that tones in better!

There's some interesting features in the ceilings.  The chancel ceiling is 15th C (restored) as is the nave ceiling.  There are some attractive bosses and wooden angels holding organs, a lute, a shield, etc.

There were some lovely brasses that took me back to the early 1970s when brass rubbings were quite a thing and you could by splendid posters for your student bedroom wall.  You don't seem to see them so much now, I think.  Anyway, these are quite famous, I gather.

Other interesting things included some very old doors, an 18th C twelve branched candelabrum that is still used on special occasions and the very faded remains of a wall painting depicting the story of St George and the Dragon - the only remaining example of the paintings that once covered the walls.

More up to date, I liked this window that celebrates the life of Guglielmo Marconi and the elevation to the peerage of Baroness Platt who lived in Writtle, was one of the earliest women engineers in this country and a vary active local notable who I met a couple of times at openings of things.  She was a very pleasant and dynamic person.

I think I made a good choice for my first visit.  It smelt of 'old church' as a lot do but had a very friendly, community atmosphere with an area for the little children at the back, a library and a big collection point for food for one of the local food banks.
I'll definitely go back again as, on re-reading some downloads, there was a lot I missed and I need to look up what things mean - 'chamfered' for example.  I'll prepare better for the next church visit . . .

. . . which will be Chelmsford cathedral, I think.  It's hardly a village church but I think it's worth a visit as the second smallest cathedral in the country - and I can get there on the bus which stops just outside so no parking worries.

(and please excuse some of the photos)