Traditionally the royal arms were supported by a lion ‘rampant’ and a unicorn ‘rampant’, the former representing England, the latter Scotland (the above picture of a Queen Anne royal arms at Anwick church, Lincs. is taken from Alexander, J.S. andBryant, G. Royal Arms in Lincs. Churches (Barton W.E.A., 1990, 21). The shield, which sometimes changed with the advent of a new monarch, is in the centre and divided into quarters. The top right quarter shows three lions ‘passant’, representing England, and a lion rampant (not unicorn) representing Scotland, each in half the quarter. The top right quarter shows three fleur-de-lys representing the long-outdated notion that the English monarch was also that of France. The bottom left quarter showed a harp representing Ireland while the bottom right quarter repeated the design of the top left. The motto below, ‘Semper Eadem’, translates to ‘Always the Same’.
The lower walling of the west tower of St. Edmund’s church is interrupted by two small lancet window openings (just visible on the photo of the previous blog’s picture). The simple style of these openings suggesting that here is surviving evidence of a much earlier church than evidenced in the rest of the building, evidence that suggests that there has been a church on this site for over a millennia. This possibility is supported by the fact that incorporated into later walling is a section of spiral shaft typical of early Norman styling.
The Perpendicular chancel arch contains a relatively modern screen and rood, this a product of the Gothic Revival movement which sought to reinstate many fixtures and fittings of medieval churches in contrast to the Georgian ‘auditory’ church interiors. The rood was traditionally a platform above the screen with a Crucifixion cross above and on which were performed some aspects of the Mass. In St. Edmund’s church hanging in from of the screen is an eight-branch glass chandelier (or was in 1980), a most incongruous fitting.
(To be continued).