See also:
A walk around Holy Trinity Church
The village of Cookham
The Evolution of Cookham Church
In the earlier days of Christianity, after the arrival of St Augustine in AD 597, itinerant priests travelled around the countryside preaching at the various villages and settlements. A cross was set up in a convenient spot and here the people met together to worship. It was found advisable to give some cover to the priest, and the cross, so the idea of a holy place or sanctuary was born. Later a building of some sort was constructed so that the people were also sheltered - this became the nave.
It can be said, therefore, that a church was built round the sanctuary or chancel, where the altar is positioned. This, no doubt, is the case of our church in Cookham. In spite of the many changes in the fabric, the sanctuary still remains in the same place as when the first Saxon church was built around it. Some may question this, but our church stands on an ideal site, never having been subject to flooding by the nearby Thames, although the village has been inundated many times. It was a well chosen site.
In the troubled times before AD 700 a succession of wooden and thatched churches stood on the site, frequently being burnt down, either by accident or by marauding Danes who sailed up the Thames as far as Reading. Then around AD 750, the first stone church was built because life was becoming more settled and stable. Surviving Saxon churches show that they consisted of two chambers only - sanctuary and nave, joined by an arch. The illustration depicts the first stone built Cookham church, allowing, of course, for a certain degree of artist's licence.
Local materials were used - blocks of chalk for the walls and a roof of thatch. The whole building was about 40ft long overall and provided shelter for 150 souls. This was the church of the Domesday Book. The wall around the present day sanctuary contains some Saxon work, despite it being refurbished in the 1400s.
The Normans were great builders, so when they eventually established their hold over the Saxon populace they set about replacing the churches. This accounts for the fact that Saxon churches are so rare, whilst Norman style churches are comparatively numerous.
Our church was enlarged - the nave lengthened to twice its original size, so that the building was the same length as it is now, disregarding the later 16th century tower. It was built with blocks of fine grained chalk which was probably quarried in the aptly named Quarry Woods in Cookham Dean.
Cookham Church was a long narrow structure with small high windows on each side; Skirmett Church in Buckinghamshire is a good example of this style. Inside as well as outside the walls were given a covering of lime wash. This was protective as well as decorative - a fresh coat being given each spring no doubt.
There were no benches or pews within the church, the congregation standing throughout the service, although there may have been a stone bench against the walls for the elderly and infirm - hence the saying "the weakest to the walls". The nave was divided from the chancel and the sanctuary by a rood screen in front of which stood the priest without a pulpit.
It should be remembered that the priest was usually as illiterate as his flock, probably being a local lad, therefore books such as the Bible were unknown. It was only when some higher dignitary of the Church was visiting that the biblical tales were read from the beautifully illuminated manuscripts laboriously copied by monks. This was then a great occasion in village life.
Cookham is unique in having had an Anchoress, a female hermit who dedicated her life to the service of God, and at Cookham she lived in a specially built cell on the cold sunless side of the church adjoining the sanctuary, a slit being cut into the wall so that she could take part in the Mass. The Pipe Rolls, Vols XVIII and XXXI, in the Public Records office, Chancery Lane, record that Henry II paid this lady a halfpenny a day from 1171 until she died in 1181. Perhaps she was doing penance for Henry who was responsible for the murder of Thomas … Beckett in 1171, a sort of "whipping boy" taking punishment for the sins of others. When she died the present Lady chapel was built on the site of her cell and it is likely that her remains are still beneath the floor.
Owing to some miscalculations, the east wall of the Lady Chapel was forced out of line due to the weight of the new roofing. However, as it has stood firm for 800 years, it can be regarded as safe and sound. Access was made to this Lady Chapel by knocking a hole in the chancel wall to make an arch, then some 40 years later in 1220 another part of this Norman north wall was pierced and arched to connect the St Catherine Chapel to the main structure. The style of architecture here is known as Early English.
The walls inside were probably painted with allegorical scenes of heaven and hell, the latter in particular. Although no wall paintings have been discovered in Cookham Church, it was usual for parish churches to be decorated in this way. Little Missenden Church had such murals, parts of which can be seen today.
Due to the slow but steady increase in the population, the church was enlarged to include an aisle on the south side. It is in the Early English style and dates from around 1270. The Norman wall on the south side of the church was completely demolished and replaced with the three pillars which support the wall today.
Then some thirty years later the south aisle was extended to balance the Lady Chapel on the north side. This was called St Clement's chapel and illustrates yet another architectural period known as Decorated, and dates the extension to around 1300 or slightly later.
The 14th century saw great changes in England. The Black Death of 1352, which carried off one third of the people, must have affected Cookham, and it was nearly 200 years before the population recovered. At the same time social reforms resulted in the destruction of the old Feudal system, albeit slowly and reluctantly. This explains why no major building alterations were carried out until the tower was erected some time after 1500 - a gap of at least 150 years.
The church was then completed and looked very much as it does today.
Minor alterations and necessary repairs are going on all the time. For instance, come years ago, the organ which used to be in the Lady Chapel was removed to its present position to the rear of St Catherine's Chapel. This enabled restoration work to be carried out in the Lady Chapel, the results of which you see today.
In 1964 the old plaster was finally removed from the roofs of the north and south aisles, revealing the timbers which had been covered for over 300 years.
The Victorian 'restorers' did a great amount of 'tidying' the church to conform with their ideas of how a church should look.
Unfortunately, a lot of their work would be called sheer vandalism today. Cookham fared better than most, although some damage was done. Generally speaking Cookham Church has altered very little since the time of Henry VIII.
In a Church as ancient as ours, which has seen so much change over the centuries, we have inherited many things which were suited to the mode of worship of previous generations. While maintaining our beautiful fabric we strive to look forward to the needs of our present generation, who wish today to take a far closer and more integral part in the worship of the Church, increasingly centred around the Eucharist.
To this end, in 1981 the Chancel and Sanctuary were reordered, bringing the altar forward to a more central position, removing some front pews, a screen and the Victorian choir stalls.
In 1993 extensive Restoration work was carried out to the Church. A new Nave floor was created out of Cotswold Stone to allow for liturgical development. The ceiling boards were removed from the chancel to reveal the roof timbers. There was extensive work done to the stonework of the tower, along with re-pointing of the flints. The church was rewired and new sound and heating systems installed.
There is still much work which needs to be done to the lower levels of flintwork, including ‘undoing’ some of the ‘restoration’ work carried out in the 1950’s.
Holy Trinity is a beautiful building for worship and the present congregation is ensuring that it is a sound condition for the future.
Historical material for this guide has been largely drawn from the Church Guide by the late R Clare Martin, which ran into four editions of 20,000 copies between 1953 and 1965, with additional notes from Darby's "History of Cookham" (1909), Sir George Young's "Cookham Church - a Village Lecture" (1901) and the researches of the late Brian M Dodds.
Thank you for allowing visitors into your church. We would like to know who created the beautiful sculpture of the madonna and child situated on the south wall of the church. We were unable to find any references to this lovely piece.
Posted by: maggie | September 14, 2009 at 11:00 PM