church tour

st antony
Chapel

This chapel was formed in 1535 at the east end of the south aisle. Its dedication to St. Antony at that time is surprising. He is regarded as the founder of monasticism and in 1536 an Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries was passed. By 1540 there were no religious houses left anywhere in England.

This chapel, too, was desecrated and for many years was the pew of the owners of Longdon Hall and Silhill Hall. It was restored in 1953. The reredos and piscina date from the creation of the chapel. The central niche of the reredos probably contained a representation of the Crucifixion with the twelve Apostles on either side and St. Antony in the separate niche on the left. The surrounding decoration contains four faces as well as bosses of foliage.
The altar, however, was reconstructed using an original altar slab found, in pieces, beneath the floor of St. Katherine's Chapel. The incised alabaster slab marked the grave of Thomas Greswold d. 1577, and his three wives. He lived in the Manor House in the High Street. The slab and that of his father Richard were discovered in 1879 beneath the pews. High up in the respond pier is the outside of the blocked Norman window already noted from the nave.
Opposite is an unusual flat headed window which contains good glass by Kempe (dated 1898) showing scenes from the Resurrection. This chapel is the setting for the beautifully decorated Altar of Repose and for the Watch of Prayer on Maundy Thursday.