St Nicholas' Church, Castle Hedingham

The sturdy beauty of the Norman arches lining the nave are the first feature to strike visitors to this wonderful building. However, it has a great deal more to offer; from the Norman wheel window (visible in the picture above, and in close-up at the foot of this page), resplendent especially in the morning sun, to more hidden treasures such as the misericord carvings in the chancel.

Fragments of the rood screen are of the 15th century, although much of it dates from the restoration work of the late 19th century. It includes carvings of animals and people. The characters are alive – grimacing, tongues out - preserved by a craftsman's skill.

The "Saxon Stone" is set into the wall of the South Chapel. I think it's probably early Norman, though it could have been preserved from the earlier church. It depicts a rather forlorn looking character; various theories have been proposed as to the subject's identity.

One of my favourite features of the church are its misericords. The base of the seats in the chancel are richly decorated. One of them (pictured above) depicts a fox carrying off a priest (he's being carried by his legs; his cassock has fallen back towards his head), whilst preceding them is a wolf with a horn.

Against the north wall of the chancel stands the tomb of the John de Vere, 15th earl of Oxford. Alive at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, he was therefore unable to be interred at the de Vere's traditional resting place, Earls Colne Priory. The tomb was moved from the centre of the chancel during restoration work in the 19th century. The figures of the earl and his countess are carved into the distinctive touchstone tomb.

Those of their children are carved into the sides, with their names above. Unfortunately, their sons are now obscured because they face the chancel's north wall. The earl's coat of arms are pictured above. He was a Knight of the Garter, so they bear the famous inscription, "Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense". A report read by Richard Almack Esq., F.S.A., at a meeting held at Castle Hedingham in 1853 described the coat of arms as follows:

"The tomb of the de Veres, has the arms of the Earls of Oxford impaled with Trussell, and the effigies of the Earl and his wife. The supporters are a harpy and blue boar."

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