In situ on the north side of the nave

None; doorway first recorded in sketch of 1746 by William Cole, though foliate decoration not recorded until sketch by Kerrich of c. 1800

St Botolph

The decoration on the hood-mould and north faces of the imposts and capitals is fairly heavily weathered. That on the other faces is in good condition with only slight bruising.

The jambs, which are square internally but recessed externally, are composed of through stones. Each has a free-standing external angle shaft with a sloping annular base and an angular cushion capital. Each face of the west capital, (a), is filled with a single group of narrow, expanding, square-ended, hollowed leaves fanning out from a point on the lower edge. The east capital, (b), is similarly treated. The jambs and angle shafts support imposts, (c and d), of fundamentally square section returned along the exterior wall face. In each case there is a roll moulding along the lower edge which is returned across the narrow end of the north face. Both imposts are decorated with leaf ornament like that on the capitals. The semicircular head of the doorway is composed of a single order of through stones, square internally but recessed externally, with a roll moulding round the arris. Externally the head is outlined by a hood mould, (e), of square section with a narrow roll moulding along the inner edge and terminating on the imposts. It is decorated in the same manner as the impost and capitals.

Rodwell has argued that the north doorway of the nave is a medieval reconstruction, either in its original location or moved here from elsewhere in the building (Rodwell 1976, 64). Clearly much more has been lost from the original building, including the north porticus arch and the chancel arch, both probably decorated in the same manner as the surviving north doorway and south porticus arch. In addition a sketch by William Cole reveals that a second doorway, similar to the north door of the nave, survived as late as 1746 in the north wall of the medieval chancel. Like the surviving doorway, it was probably decorated.

The use of early Romanesque architectural features, in particular angle shafts and soffit rolls, in this building serve to place it in the middle of the eleventh century, either just before or just after the Norman Conquest. Similarly the parallels for the plant ornament lie on either side of the Conquest. For example, there is very similar leaf ornament on fol. 171 of the Winchcombe Psalter, a work of c. 1030–50 (Temple 1976, no. 80, ill. 253) and on the mid twelfth-century east impost of the south doorway at Great Canfield, Essex.

Mid eleventh century

R.C.H.M. 1916, 144, pl. facing xxviii; Clapham 1930, 130; Cobbett 1937, 44 - 5, pls. I, IIa, IIIa; King 1942 - 5, 30; Pevsner 1954, 199; Fisher 1962, 302, fig. 33c; Taylor and Taylor 1965 - 78, i, 274, ii, pl. 480, iii, 1058; Taylor and Taylor 1966, 36, 50, fig. 15; Rodwell 1976, 56, 69, pl. Xb; Fernie 1983a, pl. IVa; Fernie 1983b, 171, pl. 100; Tweddle 1986b, i, 63 - 4, 66 - 7, 69 - 70, 177 - 8, ii, 390 - 1, iii, pls. 50 - 51a