A HISTORY OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, BOTTISHAM
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fourteenth centuries. When the fourteenth century benefactors decided to
widen the nave it then enabled the master mason to reduce the pitch of the roof.
The Norman weather course, extant on the east wall of the tower, shows the
original roof to be too steep to carry a covering of lead. The weight of the lead,
together with its high coefficient of expansion, strained the timbers of the roof
which then had to be strengthened. Another important development of the
thirteenth century, came with the incorporation of a mullion in the structure of
windows, with consequent larger windows, and a brighter fourteenth century nave.
When masons devised the technique of window tracery, there was the added
advantage that the windows could be carried into the arched head.
Tomb recesses
Beneath the nave windows of the south wall, in the
spandrels flanking the arches of five tomb recesses, there is flint work of
outstanding quality. The flints have been expertly knapped so that all form a
perfect fit. But, it is the five unique Barnack-stone arches which are of so much
interest and mystery. Why was the nave built to embrace the tower on the north
and south sides? Some assumptions can be reasonably made! From Saxon to
Norman times there is evidence to show that the right to the advowson of
Bottisham was the source of much dispute. The grant by King Henry I, and later
approved by his son King John, was finally overturned by King Henry II in 1222.
The Augustinian Prior, of the church of Saint Mary of Anglesey, finally earned the
right to the advowson and appurtenances of Bottisham. It must have been that
the dignitaries from the priory and convent, buried over the decades around the
Norman church, were of considerable local importance. Their graves had to be
moved, around 1307, to accommodate the extended nave aisles. Historically there
was a long tradition for a church to be ‘built upon the foundations of the apostles
and prophets’ (Ephesians II:20)
(Weir (1910). There is good evidence that this
was done at Bottisham when the graves were moved. When a major restoration
project was undertaken in 1839 the, then, vicar, John Hailstone, recorded the
following:-
“A singular discovery was made of stone coffins; five of them were
placed partly in the wall under the drop arches, which support the windows on the
south side of the church, and all were but a few inches from the surface of the
floor: another small one , lay more towards the interior. A slab of stone wider at
the head than at the foot can be seen outside the church in the wall under those
arches, which indicates the position of each of the coffins at burial. The coffins
have copped lids ornamented with a cross, tapering from head to foot, with a
ledge at the shoulder. The length is 6 feet 6 inches, and the breadth 2 feet 2 inches
at the top and 1 foot 2 inches at the bottom. Upon examining one of them, it
appeared as if it had never been disturbed; the bones were quite perfect and laid
straight; the hair on the scalp was not decayed, and remained until touched
matted in curls. There were remains of some covering to the body, which