Church Guide (part 3)
Now walk from the back of the church up the central aisle to the platform.
The Rood Screen
‘Rood’ is the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘cross’, so Christ on the cross with arms outstretched surveys all that goes on in the church and town.
The rood screen in front of you dates from the nineteenth century, and may be by G F Bodley, whose work in wood may also be seen in the Cambridge College chapels of Christ’s, Jesus and Queens’, and in All Saints’ Church in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, as well as in the fine reredos in the chancel here.
People often find crucifixes difficult to understand; perhaps they find them distressing because they depict death and agony. But from the early 14th century, when crucifixes were first used in devotion, they did not focus on Jesus’ suffering: for Christians the death of Christ is seen as releasing new life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Over the rood screen you can see two blind windows, which were probably to allow extra light into the building – now they reveal fragments of medieval wall paintings. The two small windows either side of the top of the chancel arch were originally tall lancet windows, and were shortened to their current size when the chancel arch and roof were raised.
The Nave Platform
In front of the rood screen is the platform where the altar stands in the main Sunday communion service. For most of the life of this church the priest stood at the high altar in the chancel to conduct worship, but from the 1970s many churches installed an altar table in the nave to bring the priest and people closer together. This platform was installed in 1999 during a reordering of the church that also included new altar furniture, and the current pulpit.
The lectern, on which the Bible is placed during services, is in the shape of an eagle; a bird which was thought to be able to stare into the sun without flinching, and similarly the words of the Bible are an unflinching revelation of God. The eagle is also the symbol of St John the Evangelist, who began his gospel with the words, ‘In the beginning was the Word’, which makes the eagle an appropriate shape for the place where the Bible, the word of God, rests.
The altar frontal on the nave altar was given in 1993 by the Vane Percy family (Baumgartner descendants), the design incorporating three lilies and the Virgin’s crown (after the patron of the church) the fleur-de-lys (the badge of the town) and six pierced mullets (stars), three from the Tryce coat of arms and three from the Vane Percy coat of arms. It was made by Watts & Co. of London, who had worked on the original high altar frontals to Bodley’s design.
If you look on the step from the nave to the platform, you will see these words carved: ‘I am the bread of life’. These are the words of Jesus at the last supper, in which Jesus used bread and wine to teach his disciples about his coming death and resurrection, and what it would mean for them and for us. They remind us that just as we need bread to sustain our bodies, so also we need Jesus to sustain and give life to our souls.
The Chancel
The chancel is the part of the church beyond the rood screen. Nowadays it provides a good space for services where a small number of people gather, such as Morning Prayer (said each weekday) and Evensong (on Sundays). During the main Sunday service the choir sits in the chancel. All the stained glass in the chancel is in memory of various vicars and curates of the parish.
The Organ
The church has a strong musical tradition, with a robed choir singing at the main Sunday Eucharist and at Prayer Book Evensong each week.
In 1859 the church commissioned a new organ from Bryceson & Fincham of London at a cost of £300. It is a tribute to the quality of the original craftsmanship that no major work was needed on the organ for 117 years.
Between 1976 and 2002 various changes were made, and the organ was fully restored.
Misericords
The ‘shelves’ on the underside of chancel seats are called misericords (from the Latin word meaning ‘compassion’), and were designed to support frail (or lazy) monks when they had to stand for long periods of time.
These misericords came originally from nearby – probably either from Ramsey Abbey or from Huntingdon Priory – and are of significant artistic and historical value. Moved to their present position by the Victorians, the chancel seats were previously in the nave as the official seating for the Town Council’s two Bailiffs (joint mayors) and their twelve assistants (town councillors).
The arm rests depict animals, humans and angels, and lifting the seats reveals the pride of the church – some fine 15th-century carvings.
You will find a fox carrying a goose in its mouth, a rabbit nestling in a large flower, a monkey, a wyvern, falcon, cat, dog and horse. The ‘WS’ you may find refers to William Stevens, who was Vicar from 1470 to 1481.
O glorious God,
the whole of creation
proclaims your marvellous work:
increase in us a capacity
to wonder and delight in it,
that heaven’s praise may echo in our hearts and our lives
be spent as good stewards of the earth. Amen.
High Altar
Your eye, from most places in the chancel, is led to the impressive reredos of the high altar with its gilt wood carving and figures, designed in 1901 by G F Bodley.
The chancel is not only the oldest part of the building, but also the holiest. We have passed the font – the place of welcome – we have walked through the nave along the central aisle – the way to God – and now, through the rood screen, is a place set aside – the chancel – and beyond it, the sanctuary.
God is everywhere, but here we are reminded of God’s perpetual presence by the burning of a red light – the sanctuary light. We can see this light from the nave, and it guides us on our journey. On the left of the sanctuary a white light burns. This represents the presence of Christ in the reserved sacrament – the small cupboard set into the wall houses consecrated wafers that are kept so that they can be taken to the sick and housebound who are unable to come to church to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Reserving the sacrament is an ancient custom, but is not practised in all parish churches. It was probably re-introduced here in the nineteenth century.
We hope that you have enjoyed your virtual tour of the church, and that you will have the opportunity to visit us in person, and to spend some time in prayer or quiet in this holy place, where people have sought and found God for many hundreds of years.
We believe that the Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Godmanchester, exists to build up the individual and corporate spiritual life of our Church and to spread the love of Christ through word and deed, by enabling those who live and work within our town to come into contact with God’s love and come to faith in Christ.