Visit-a-Church
Key Image St Margaret
Holt Road
NR25 7TT Cley next the Sea
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: Cley next the Sea (Diocese of Norwich, Archdeaconry of Lynn, Deanery of Holt)
Geogr. Coordinates: 52.94639° N, 1.0474° E
Geo Location
Reference year: 1150
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Basilica
Description: Gothic basilica, originally with a transept (now in ruins), a rectangular chancel and a bell tower at the north west corner
Name derivation: From St Margaret of Antioch
Noteworthy
  • Carved heraldry in the south porch (1405–14)
Pulpit
  • Jacobean oak pulpit (1611)
Font
  • Octagonal font with seven panels showing the seven sacraments
Windows
  • Remains of 15th cent. stained glass windows (north window in the chancel, south aisle, including a window with eight female saints)
  • 20th cent. stained glass windows (War Memorial window, window in the Lady Chapel)
Noteworthy
  • Benches with carved ends and poppy heads (15th cent.)
  • Carved corbel figures on the south arcade
  • Choir stalls with misericords (probably early 15th cent.)
History:
12th cent.:   Construction of a tower for the old church (lower part of the tower still existing)
Late 13th cent.:   Rebuilding and enlargement of the chancel
Early 14th cent.:   Building of the nave and the transepts starts
About 1340:   Lengthening of the nave and construction of the west front
15th cent.:   Addition of the porches (south porch between 1405 and 1414)
About 1430:   Aisle walls raised and Perpendicular style windows added
About 1550:   Beginning deterioration of the transept roofs and subsequent delapidation of the transepts
1911:   Restoration of the ruined west porch
Important persons:
Patron:  Margaret of Antioch (d. 305, virgin and martyr, revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers)
Sources
Missen, Marjorie: A History and Guide to the Parish Church of St. Margaret of Antioch, Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, Cley Parochial Church Council, Cley next the Sea 2013
© 2025
TuK Bassler
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