The Norman doorway shows plainly from the road and tells us that there must have been a very fine church here in the Norman period; subsequently, each part of the building was reconstructed leaving us with only this one Norman feature. It has a single-scallop shaft on each side of the doorway and the semi-circular arch is high enough to allow the tympanum within to be filled with a checkered pattern, sometimes called a LOZENGE pattern.
The Tower commands your attention by its tremendous height and beauty. It belongs to the early Perpendicular period (c.1390) and has a splendid West door which is still used for weddings and special occasions. Above the door is a very large West window with a central battlemented transom and further transoms in the tracery above the five main lights.
A stair turret goes right up the south-east angle of the tower to the parapet. There is flush-work on the parapet as well as on the angle buttress of the tower. It even had a spiralet on top at one time. The South Porch is interesting because the outer doorway has a sharply-pointed arch typical of the 14th century Decorated period, which makes it earlier than the windows of this church.
To the right of the porch can be found stones in the nave wall with initials and a date, 1686, referring to some restoration work. Again near the south-east corner, there is an odd arrangement of stones in an oval in the wall, which is difficult to interpret. Perhaps they were stones from the second church, which were put there during this restoration. The windows are 15th century (Perpendicular period) designs.
Inside the Church
First admire the lofty tower arch, which dates the tower for us as the beginning of the Perpendicular period. There are three corbels above. The six bells are a complete set made by Thomas Osborn of Downham Market in 1802, but their framework will need extensive repair before they can be used again. Their inscriptions are interesting:
1 ~ "Thomas Osborn Fecit Downham Norfolk 1802"
2 ~ "The Lord to praise my voice I'll raise"
3 ~ "Peace and good neighbourhood"
4 ~ "Long Live King Geogre the Third"
5 ~ "Our voices shall with joyful sound, Make hills and valleys echo round"
6 ~ "I to the Church the living call, And to the grave do summon all"
The quartrefoil piers and the arcading of the south aisle are late 14th century or early Perpendicular period work. Note that three of the piers have blank merlons or battlements below the capitals. Then there are double-hollow-chamferred arches above.
The chapel at the east end of the south aisle is filled with the huge monument and tomb of John Steward and his wife, Anne, 1603 and 1604. An ancestor of the John Steward had been shipwrecked off the Norfolk coast on his way from Scotland to France and had then decided to settle in Norfolk. Anne was the daughter of the Lord of the Manor of Shouldham. Their effigies are made from the local chalk and have been recently repainted.
The chancel has a modern arch-braced roof, but the stone corbels date from c.1400.
The heads are most intriguing and, starting above the pulpit, they are:
1 ~ Christ with fingers lifted to bless
2 ~ A King holding an open bible
3 ~ Moses with rod and tablets of stone
4 ~ Adam and serpent
5 ~ Serpent and the fruit
6 ~ St. Peter with two keys
7 ~ Martyr with sword and book
8 ~ Judas with money bag and serpent
The forked beards of the King and Moses suggest the date because this fashion in beards did not last for long.
The benches in the nave include a splendid set of 10 with traceries backs and fine poppy-heads, which date from the 15th century. Each bench has a different design. The pews on the north side are part of the 1875 restoration of this church. The floor tiles in the nave are hexagonal like a honeycomb, which is rare and are the original medieval floor of this church.
An Elizabethan Communion Table stands at the back of the church. It has very fine bulbous legs and is no less than 7 feet 3 inches long. The Royal Arms of James 1 hang inside the tower. This is a large and excellent feature dated 1619. A domed-top chest, dated 1725, stands near the door.
The font was probably made just before 1400; it has an interesting assortment of patterns in shallow tracery around the stem. The interesting Y tracery of c.1300 is there and a decorated period design of c.1300. Differing patterns around the bowl include a sexfoil and two quatrefoils.
The altar reredos has 5 stone arches containing paintings on sheet metal panels. Christ in the centre has St. Peter and St. Andrew on either side. They are flanked by a nartyred Bishop (with a sword through his mitre) and a martyred King (with an arrow). The Lord's Prayer and the Creed have separate decorative stone panels.
The memorial to Henry Villebois (1847) on the north chancel wall is noteworthy. It has two kneeling angels at each end of an altar, with an open bible and a cross over, designed by R. Westmacott Jnr.
The Villebois family vault is at the east end of the nave and there are stained-glass window memorials as well.
The list of Rectors, near the door, starts in the year 1250 and it is helpful to compare the features of this church with the names given here. The Rev. John Ferthyng left money in 1431 for the repair of the two churches here. The second church was St. Andrew's and its remains can be found in the Vicarage garden. The last mention of it in the records was in 1500.
Marham Nunnery was sited across the road from the church and was founded in 1249 by Isabell, widow of the Earl of Arundel. It was dissolved in 1536 and much of its building material was used for farm buildings; but substantial parts remain including the west range with the outer parlour and a 14th century room with some rib-vaulting resting on a caryatid demi-figure. A high wall still stands with two round windows complete with tracery. This was the only Cistercian Nunnery in Norfolk (see Marham Abbey page for more details).