The nave of the large church incorporates different architectural building styles from the 13th – 15th century. The chancel is Saxon and is one of the most important examples of Anglo-Saxon architecture to be found in England. This wooden door high up in the chancel is a modern doorway leading to a rood loft, where holy relics would have been kept in Anglo Saxon days and displayed to the congregation from a platform on Saint’s days
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In Saxon times a stone staircase came from outside to this doorway. Through the doorway stone steps came out of the chancel wall which accessed the rood loft
 Inside the church...
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The horizontal / vertical stones to the right side of this high doorway, and a similar pattern to the left, are 14th century alterations to the 9th century Saxon wall
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Narrow steps lead down to the Saxon crypt
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The crypt was used as a mausoleum by the Mercian Royal family. In about 725 AD when King Ethelbald decided to build a mausoleum attached to the church, although not physically attached as it is today. Each of the recesses would have held a casket containing the bones of the family. It is likely that the caskets would have been lost in the Viking raids. Originally the crypt was beautifully decorated with a blue ceiling, red pillars and the walls were gold, and remnants of the red paint are still visible today, 1200 years later
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| The crypt is not related to the church; in fact in the days of the Augustinian Priory monks would have used it as a short cut into the church. In the 1500s, after the priory had ended, it served little function at all and the staircases were covered over. It remained hidden until 1779 when re-discovered by a workman breaking and falling through the roof, damage which can be easily identified by a below standard 18thC repair |
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