Old Pictures of Castle Hedingham

Here are some more old pictures of Castle Hedingham. This second page of photographs are mainly concerned with the village's churches, and primarily St Nicholas' Church. I have very little information about the photographs here; if anyone can tell me more I'd like to hear.

I think that this is probably the oldest exterior photo I possess of St Nicholas' Church, although I may be basing my judgement on some fairly superficial changes. The buildings (including the cottages which are just visible in the background) have altered very little, and yet the scene is so unfamilar I don't think I'd immediately have recognised this as St Nicholas! The modern picture, taken from pretty much the same spot, demonstrates the reason; it's amazing what a difference a few trees can make to a view. The original card was never posted, but does have some notes about the architecture of the church written on it; these are dated 1908, so the photograph must predate that.

This picture, which was kindly provided by Andy Smith, might be of similar date.

This picture has a somewhat tidier look, and a small tree has appeared near the south porch (could it even be the one which appears near the junction of south chapel and chancel in the first photo, having been replanted?), so it must have been taken some time later. Is the bush close to the centre of this picture the one that can be seen close to the tomb with the cross in Andy Smith's picture? In any case, it certainly predates 1921, because the war memorial isn't in its present position in the immediate foreground.

St Nicholas Church has changed very little, at least since the restoration of the late nineteenth century. This postcard has a handwritten note on the back, with a date of August 5th, 1936.

This picture was clearly taken after WWI, because the memorial is now in place. Beyond that, the only dating evidence I'm aware of is that the gates were replaced in 1964, so this is earlier than that. The fir tree which was happily (and probably rather threateningly!) growing close to the south porch in the two earlier pictures had clearly been removed by the time this picture was taken.

The interior of the church has also changed little. The cross above the rood screen was removed at some point, and no longer obscures the view of the Norman wheel window. The pulpit was restored in the twenties, and this picture is certainly earlier than that. Click here for information about the history of St Nicholas' Church.

This picture shows the back of Church Lane, with the keep to the left and St Nicholas' Church in the centre. The area from which the picture was taken was once used for growing hops (see the picture below), but was later allowed to return to (largely unmanaged) woodland. I'm not sure if I'd be able to locate the precise spot from which the picture was taken, but it will be either wooded or under a recent housing development.

This is rather obviously a much later postcard - it's postmarked 1966. The scenes depicted haven't really changed, but it's interesting to note that Church Ponds was then being called "Church Street"; someone happily had the taste to revert it to its original name.

This is now the United Reformed Church, but was originally the Independent Chapel. Andy Smith provided this lovely engraving. The chapel, built in 1842, replaced a C18th building.

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