St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch, Eastern England

Much of the history of the church at Trunch, and the village itself, lies in mystery.  It is thought to have been founded by Vikings, but the name itself is also a mystery.  The Doomsday book records it as Trunchet or Truchet, which may have origins in the Danish word for ‘weighing place’, but we don’t know if that is correct. Neither the architect of the church, or its patrons are known either, even mason’s marks have not been positively identified. The church is dedicated to St. Botolph, a saint we also know little about, other than he is thought to have been from East Anglia, and lived in the 7th Century. Norfolk was the wealthiest county in 14th and 15th Century England, and this is also when the largest churches were built, but the records here just don’t exist, so we need to date it in other ways. 

The Domesday Book records there being a church at Trunch with 10 acres, but the church we see today at Trunch is thought to be primarily 15th Century, with a 14th Century chancel. It is special because it retains a bit of everything, but its crowning glory is its font canopy. It dates from the very end of the 15th Century and is a very unusual survival, one of only four in England, the others being at St. Peter Mancroft in Norwich, St. Marys in Luton, and one of a later date at Durham Cathedral. However, I believe the font canopy at Trunch to be the best example. The font itself dates from the mid-14th Century, however its stem, inset with flint, may be of a later date.

The canopy itself is carved from oak and still retains traces of gilding and painting.  Although mostly worn away, it would have once been brightly painted and gilded. It rises from its base on six buttressed legs, which are each carved with twisting foliage, leading to the vaulted and fan-traceried ceiling of the canopy.

The canopy’s carvings are of birds pecking grapes, a squirrel with nuts, a monkey holding a crozier, a dog chasing a hare and a pig wearing a mitre, which might say something about the local Bishop.  There are also peg holes which are thought to have been where other carvings were once attached.

Restoration work on the canopy was carried out in 1956, and again in 1996, when the canopy was treated and conserved.  Its late medieval date has no doubt helped it to survive, as well as its location in a small village in the country. 

Part of the late 15th-early 16th Century rood screen still exists at Trunch. Although not as much of it remains as the one at Ranworth, it is still a substantial survival. The carved frieze of the vine scroll, which is now fixed to the top of the screen, is all that remains of a once substantial loft above. The loft would have spanned both sides of the screen. Above the rood screen, there was once a rood loft, which was accessed by the rood stair, to the left of the arch. At the end of Henry VIII’s reign, and during the minority of his son King Edward VI, it was decreed that all roods and their lofts were to be destroyed.

The screen at Trunch Church has three bays on either side of the arched opening.  Each bay of the dado has two saints, which sit under decorated gothic arches.  Most of the faces of the saints have been scratched off and they are now faceless, but the screen is still beautifully ornate and richly coloured.  A record of the visits of the King’s Commissioners, from the 1560’s and again in the 1640’s, were probably when the destruction was caused.

The lower panel of the screen depicts twelve Saints. Above the dado is an elaborate cornice, carved with painted scrolls entwined with foliage. The scrolls read:

‘Pray for the souls of the benefactors of this work, which was made in the year of our Lord 1502.’

The upper part of the screen consists of six arches with the doorway. John Gogyll is thought to have been the donor of the screen, but he may have been one of several.  His will is dated the 12th of May 1496, and was proved after his death, on the 26th of March 1498. He asked to be buried in the church, for which he left an additional 5 marks. 

There are six choir stalls in the Chancel, with misericords and carved arm rests, that sit just behind the rood screen.  They date from the late 14th or early 15th Century.  The choir stalls are raised up on a platform, the structure acted as a sounding box, and its effect was to amplify the songs and chants of the liturgy. 

The choir stalls and the pews in the Chancel are medieval, although they have had Victorian repairs.  They also contain some ancient graffiti from when the Chancel was used as a school room, from 1646 to 1750. Ink wells were cut into the desks, and children have carved initials, dates, houses and even a ‘Three Men’s Morris' board.  Three Men’s Morris is an ancient game that is thought to be a direct ancestor of Noughts and Crosses, and is related to the later, and more complex, Six Men’s Morris and Mine Men’s Morris. 

The Chancel itself is thought to be early 14th Century Decorated Gothic, and is the oldest part of the building.  Tradition tells us that the Chancel was used as a chapel by the monks of Bromholm Abbey.  The poppy head finials on the bench seats are also late medieval. 

The hammerbeam angel roof was constructed in 1486, following a bequest, with angel figures located on the ends of the hammer-beams.  Although the angel roof is outshone by Trunch’s other treasures, it is nonetheless a work of art in its own right. The large angels loom above the Nave discreetly, and can easily go unnoticed because the visitor’s eye is drawn to the church’s other treasures.

The Nave is 55.8 feet long and 19.3 wide. It was said that the Nave roof was rebuilt in the 1380’s, but this date causes issues with what we know of hammer-beam roofs.  It is thought that the earliest hammer-beam roof in England, is the one at Westminster Hall in London, which is dated to 1394.  It is not thought that hammer-beam roofs were in Norfolk, until the 15th Century.  Dendrochronology may be able to solve this mystery.