The Church

THE CHURCH
"One of the few almost entirely perpendicular village churches in Nottinghamshire, all of a piece and of felicitous proportions" is how Nikolaus Pevsner describes the church at Lambley in his book, "The Buildings of Nottinghamshire".

The nave and chancel (with the exception of the north wall of the chancel) were wholly rebuilt after the death of Ralph Cromwell in January 1454/5. In a codicil to his will, Lord Cromwell ordered that the church should be "built and constructed anew". An indenture drawn up by Ralph's executors between 30th September 1466 and 23rd April 1469 includes reference to an outstanding charge of £300 for building Lambley church.
On the exterior wall either side of the east window are two carved panels bearing Ralph Cromwell's badge of a purse, representing his office of Lord Treasurer of England. The whole of the exterior looks strong and forceful with a plain parapet instead of the usual battlements.

The windows are high and spacious, being three-light in the nave and south chancel and five-light in the east of the chancel. The tracery is simple with the usual panelling motif and at the top in the centre of each window there are two bladder-shaped motifs.
Following its rebuilding, the church was rededicated on 29th April 1480
when a commission was granted to William, Bishop of Dromore, who acted as suffragan to the Archbishop of York from 1469 to 1501. At the same time the Bishop granted an indulgence or remission of 40 days "to all persons truly contrite and penitent, who should keep the anniversary day of this dedication and consecration of the church."
The west tower is earlier than most of the church. The bottom two-thirds of the tower are 12th-13th century; there are two windows in the tower which have a Norman round arch, one of which has Early English twin lancets contained inside. The tower is supported by clasping buttresses and is crowned by a late 14th century battlemented top, and stands about 55 feet high. The tower arch opening into the nave is Norman, with waterleaf and similar leaf-shaped capitals.

Also dating from an earlier period is the north wall of the chancel which appears to be mid-14th century. In 1349, the sixth Lord Cromwell (born 1292) founded a chantry to which he gave a "messuage and 100 shillings yearly rent to Lambley, having a hundred marks land and rent here." The chantry chapel has now disappeared but foundations for it were found when building began on the new vestry, which was completed in 1978. In the course of the vestry's erection, several medieval tiles were discovered. The chantry chapel was originally a two-storeyed structure, with a hagioscope or squint in the chancel wall on the upper floor. The hagioscope still remains in the north wall of the chancel.

Remaining in the east window there are some pieces of ancient glass, some of which may still be in its original position. In the centre light of this five-light window is a cross and chalice, a good example of a "chalice glass", and one which has been fortunate to survive destruction in the Puritan era. Above the chalice glass, in two tracery lights are two pieces of stained glass, one depicting the Virgin in a yellow robe and blue cloak, the other depicting the Virgin in an orange robe and crown with a white wimple, with the Christ Child standing on her knee. The former was apparently part of a rood of which the Crucifix and St. John are missing. The three pieces of glass are late 14th century. In the other three windows in the chancel there are even earlier fragments of glass bearing a trailing acorn design.

Inside the church in the chancel aisle there is the tomb of the sixth Lord Cromwell and his wife, the parents of Ralph Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England. The marble slab is now almost totally effaced. In the codicil to his will, Ralph writes that a "Marble stone with two brazen immages shall be ordered and placed fittingly there above the tomb of my father and mother." The covering brass has long since disappeared. The rood screen dates from 1377. There are five slim openings on each side of the entrance. On the south side, there is evidence that the screen has been modified, and the presence of piscina in the south wall of the nave indicates that there was once an altar here, backing onto the screen. On the north side, there is a staircase from the floor of the nave through the wall leading to the rood loft, which is no longer in existence. A doorway in the wall above the screen is all that remains. At the junction of the nave and the chancel, there is a small corbelled-out turret in which the sanctus bell was hung; a staircase leads from the rood loft to the roof. In the sanctuary, the altar is the pre-Reformation altar stone bearing five crosses, symbolic of the five wounds of Christ. The stone was found beneath the sanctuary when a new floor was put down earlier this century; it had been buried at the time of the Reformation. At the back of the church stands the octagonal font, which dates from the 15th century. Some Jacobean features have survived, among them the chancel stalls, the Rector's stall and a reading desk, all of which bear the characteristic carving and panelling. There is an oak Communion Table, given by John Wood in 1619. (The Wood family was prominent for several centuries in Lambley and Woodborough). This now stands at the back of the church. The altar rail, with its sturdy balusters is also seventeenth century.

excerpt from 'Lambley, a Village Study'