St Michael's, Horton

History - The Building - Other Features

Other features of the interior

The Font
C12th, with a simple rope moulding. It is a large tub (1 metre across) and big enough for a baby to be totally immersed.

The Screen Stairs
At the end of the south arcade which led to a mediaeval wooden screen under the chancel arch.

The Royal Achievement
Of William IV (1830-37) on the north wall shows the Hanoverian arms with an elector's crown. After many decades of storage in the ringing chamber it was restored and rehung in 1982.

The Tower Arch
The tall, four-centred tower arch with polygonal jambs is later 15th century perpendicular; the small door and doorway to the stair turret are also late 15th century as are the moulded ceiling-timbers. Notice the fove guide holes in the ceiling for bellropes.

The North Chapel
Is entered by the lovely continuous 14th century arch. There is a simple brass chandelier of 1728, and a mediaeval piscina. The altar is a memorial to the village dead of the Great War.

The chapel was formerly the responsibility of the Lords of the manor whose big private pew is shewn in Scott's plan. In the 17th and 18th centuries the manor was held by the Scawens , many of whom were interred in a vault (now closed) below the chapel floor. They were buried in linen for which they paid a levy of Ł50; everyone else was buried in wool, a government stipulation to encourage the wool industry. A huge and elaborate memorial to them occupied much space in the chapel, but disappeared during the restoration.

The Organ
The organ of 1880 cost Ł305. The pointed tops to the pipes and the stencilled decoration are unusual; they were made at the insistance of Avery Tyrrel of Berkyn Manor who defrayed the cost. It was overhauled by J W Walker in 1996 at a cost of Ł20,887 38p!

The Bells
The oldest bell ( a rare example of one cast during the civil war) is inscribed "Feare God 1647". A sixth bell, (the treble - the smallest bell) was added in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. It cost Ł200, provided by the premium for the least of the Five Bells public house, at that time owned by the Church Lands Trustees.

List of Rectors
Near the font. The illuminated list of 1950 shows the succession from 1208 to 1948.