Stody St Mary
St Marys Church Stody
Where to find this church
Church Information
St Marys church is located in Stody, a Norfolk village about 4 miles southwest of Holt.
This church is usually open to visitors
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Visiting Stody St Mary
St Mary’s church in Stody lies in a beautiful setting in the rural countryside to the south of Holt. It is noticeable for its tall transepts, which are as high as the nave and chancel. This leads to an interesting roof inside! The tower is 14th century, with flushwork panels in its battlemented parapet. The stair turret on the south side was probably added in 15th century. There is no sign of an earlier belfry lower down. The nave and transepts all have large 15th century windows, and the north and south nave were re-faced with flints in the 19th century. The chancel has smaller windows with earlier decorated tracery, but its east window is large with four lights of intersecting tracery, which could be around 1300. Maybe its walls were heightened to match the rest when the present nave and transepts were built.
The 13th century Purbeck marble font, with two pointed arches on each face of the bowl, stands on eight shafts and a central column, in front of the pointed tower arch. The 15th century arch-braced roof extends over the whole church, with a crossing where the transepts meet the nave. There the roof is supported by four stone angel corbels at the corners, and the central boss has IHC (from the Greek word for Jesus). In the outreaching corners of the building, the wall posts are supported on wooden angels with large wings, possibly 19th century. Throughout, there are bosses on the intersections where beams meet. There is some fine 15th century glass in the tracery of the north nave windows. The north-west one shows four kings and four patriarchs. The only recognisable one is third from the left with an arrow, for King Edmund. The north-east nave window has the Blessed Virgin Mary and God in the centre, from a Coronation scene making St Mary the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by six of the Apostles: Saints Philip (loaves), Bartholomew (flaying knife), Matthias (halberd), Simon (fish), Jude (boat) Thomas (T square). Further, but different, now faded brown, glass can be seen in the east of the south transept: possibly Saints Mary Magdalene, Margaret, Helen, Catherine.
Unfortunately, the quality and quantity of the interior photos are rather mediocre, meaning we have to visit this church again.