The Parish Church of Clavering is dedicated to St. Mary & St Clement, and both dedications seem to relate to the time when the living was owned by Prittlewell Priory. The priory was dedicated to St Mary, and they were the proud possessors of a relic of St Clement. The priory was founded by Robert fitzSweyn, lord of the manor of Clavering, and was near to Rayleigh where he had a castle which had replaced Clavering Castle (see Project Castle articles on this website).

 

THE NORMAN CHURCH
The present medieval church was built on the site of an earlier one, and there could well have been a Saxon foundation originally. In addition there are documentary records of two chapels in the churchyard. The present church contains at least three objects that date from the earlier church: the bowl of the font, the knight’s effigy in a niche in the north-east corner and, in the central aisle, the tomb of Master Ablade, the lettering of which pre-dates the present church. The latter was only discovered recently through a detailed church survey made by NADFAS. The list of vicars besides the south door also goes back earlier than this church (see website article on this) and the irregularity of one of the aisles is indicative of an earlier building on the site. Like many medieval churches, the chancel is at a slight angle: this is said to be symbolic of Christ’s head leaning to one side on the Cross.

MEDIEVAL REBUILDING

The church we see today was completely rebuilt from about the late 14th century onwards, and the building work must have gone on throughout much of the 15th century – how amazing that such an act of faith should have taken place so soon after the devastating Black Death – yet similar rebuilding happened in many places at this time. Local historian Eileen Ludgate in her book* (p34) writes:

The new church, chancel, nave, tower and south porch, built mainly of flints, with stone dressings at corners, doorways and windows and with stone battlements, came to dominate all other buildings in the village. Inside the nave and lofty arcading had clerestorey above: the timber roof had embattled wall plates, big carved seraphims on the main rafters and smaller angels and carved figures in the side aisles. A timber boss in the roof of the porch had two carved shields, one with plaincross, the other a diagonal cross saltire, the heraldic device of the Neville family.

The roof is indeed filled with amazing carvings, corbels and even green men, but needs a strong torch and binoculars to be appreciated! There are many fascinating features, like the beautifully-carved Elizabethan pulpit and the original 15th century screen. Some of the rich medieval colours can be faintly seen on its panels, with the outlines of figures of saints. The screen was restored by Miss May ffytche, the village historian of her day. There was once a rood loft above, now demolished, but the access door and spiral stairs are still there. Look for a finely-carved graffiti, the words Amor vincit omnia on the side of this doorway. It is thought to be medieval and by an educated hand, perhaps a cleric of this church proclaiming the meaning of the figure of Christ on the cross which once stood above the rood screen.

The benches in the side aisles are 15th century, and some of the best medieval stained glass in Essex can be found in fragmented form in the north aisle windows, telling the story of St Catherine – this was also restored under the organisation of Miss ffytche. Piscenae (wall niches) survive beside the three altars, one of which is the Children’s corner and the other the Australian Air Force chapel. The war memorials were recently lovingly restored by the Royal British Legion, whose standards hang aloft. The present bells are 19th century, with very good tone, and they replaced earlier ones to which there is a 1552 reference to ‘the belles in the steple’.

CHURCH CHEST
One of the church chests is 17th century and there is an interesting article about it in a book called The Church Chests of Essex by H.W. Lewer & J.C. Walls, published 1913, from which this is an extract (with some paraphrasing):

Strenuous efforts to frustrate robbery and to safeguard those things in which they were temporarily responsible, led the parish priest of Clavering and his two wardens to provide a chest which would defy burglarious attempts to filch the church property. The chest is… heavily banded in sheet iron….seven bands… three carried hasps with locks... Within the chest are now the registers, a purse or trough to contain the chalice, paten and spaces for the reliquary or other small object. The lid is (?) inside to fit to the walls of the chest when closed. Small iron foot at each corner to rest trunk on the pavement. Only 2 examples of these known in Essex chests. To lift this ponderous mass, 2 triangular rings at each end provide the means by which chains could be passed and slung over a pole and then raised to shoulders. A heavy staple beneath the lock on the front of the trunk was possibly intended as an aid to such lifting.

Naturally the chest no longer contains anything valuable, and the old registers are in the Essex Record Office (see item on parish records).

MONUMENTS
Some of the ancient brasses were once stolen, but recovered after some years and returned to the church. The Baroque memorials at the west end of the north aisle relate to the Barlee family, notably Haynes Barlee 1605-96 and his three wives and 17 children – at one time they had their own private box pew at the back and the Barlee vault was underneath. The Barlee charity still exists. On the south wall is a painted board describing the famous ‘herring’ charity, whereby the poor received barrels of herrings during Lent. In the chancel is a memorial to Rev John Smith, a noted vicar who came here in 1592. In the north aisle, and under some pressure from being trodden on for centuries, there are some unusual black slab gravestones, commemorating the Banson family. There are other interesting monuments (see item on website about the Wales memorial). A new monument being planned will be in honour of Eileen Ludgate, the late village historian who died in 2006.

CHANGES
Many things are gone of course, either in the Reformation or by later vandals. The rood loft was taken away with its cross. The walls now whitewashed were originally covered in colourful paintings depicting Bible stories. Most of the magnificent stained glass has been long since destroyed – the fragments above the north door are a reminder of how much there must once have been. Clavering Church also has an amazing variety of medieval and Early Modern graffiti, of which a special study has been made by Bari Hooper (for details please enquire), but whitewashing and the crumbling nature of the clunch threatens its survival. If you look up behind the organ, you can see where 18th century villagers carved their names while seated in the singing gallery long since removed.

CHURCH RESTORATION
That the church and its fabric survive as well as they do is to the credit of generations of villagers who have periodically raised huge sums to restore it. See the other item on this website, describing the most dramatic changes that took place in the 1860s*. A great deal of work was spearheaded by Miss May ffytche of The Old House in the 1920s & 30s. More recently, there was a massive fund-raising decade in the 1980s which included new roof on church tower and nave, resetting 40 battlements, replacing floor timbers and stonework and stained glass repairs. A current project is to provide disabled access and toilet facilities. The challenge of conserving the parish church is never ending as this magnificent building is our greatest treasure and must at all costs be maintained.

THE CHURCH TODAY
Visitors are welcome and the church is grateful for all contributions towards the restoration fund. There are services every Sunday - a list can be found in the church porch and in the parish magazine, which serves three other parishes (Arkesden, Wicken Bonhunt & Langley) with whom Clavering shares a vicar (currently Rev Duncan McGuffie). Clavering is also in Ecumenical union with the Methodist and United Reformed former churches in the parish and their ministers and lay preachers assist in services (see separate website articles on these churches). A much fuller description of the church interior and its history can be found in a leaflet by Eileen Ludgate, on sale in the church at 50p and in the 3 books on Clavering – see publications section.
 

See also on this website articles on:
    Vicars of Clavering
    Church Bells – see Clavering Bellringers
    Churchyard
    Parish Records
    Clavering Methodists
    Congregational Church
    Captain Cook

Jacqueline Cooper
Clavering Local History Recorder (2006)