Colmworth
Saint Denis

  Places > Colmworth > Churches

A perpendicular church with a high embattled porch. "The large windows create a beautifully airy interior." (Pevsner)  The chancel is built of cobble stones , while the nave tower and south porch are faced with freestone.

Points of interest:

• The stained glass in the north window includes a whole 15th century angel standing on a wheel.
• An "excellent and large alabaster and black marble monument to William Dyer and family erected in 1641" (Pevsner).  Sir William and Lady Katherine Dyer are semi-reclining at two levels, propped up on their elbows.  At Lady Dyers feet is her grandson Henry.  At the base of the monument are the figures of Faith, Hope and Charity.  The monument has a canopy with a central arched panel, containing heraldry flanked by scrolls carried on three Corinthian columns.

In 1885 considerable restoration work to the church was carried out by Wing & Jackson of Bedford. The work involved roof repairs, reseating the church and the erection of a platform at the west end of the nave for the organ.

Sources:

• Nicholas Pevsner, The buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, Penguin Books, 1968
• Brian L. Harris, Harris's Guide to Churches and Cathedrals, Ebury Press, 2006

Church of Saint Denis by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2008

Page last updated: 23rd January 2014