St Paul
Bedford, Bedfordshire
The roof is supported by figure corbels, each with a strange feathery bird (C19 ones are smaller than the surviving C15 elements). Other bosses and gilded figures populate the nave roof, running parallel with the principal members
Architectural Features
The south arcade dates to the C14 and has been replicated with different bases on the north side
The south aisle has a relocated pulpit, designed 1871 by John Day
The central aisle has a Purbeck marble floor slab robbed of its original memorial brasses
this was originally part of an early-C16 reredos, repurposed in 1680 to serve as a pulpit (Wesley’s sermon was delivered from here). The font in the north aisle has a C14 base with a C19 bowl and 1936 conical cover (by J P White). At the west of the nave is a large west gallery (1982) with seating above and ancillary spaces below
it also forms an internal west porch with glass doors engraved by David Pearce and Meinrad Carighead
The crossing has a coffered ceiling decorated with the Royal Arms
A Rood Screen crosses the chancel arch, complete with carvings of the Rood, the Virgin Mary, St John the Evangelist, and two angels in prayer, it was designed by G F Bodley in 1905
some early C15 misericords survive, including a depiction of the siege of Bedford Castle
graffiti in the attached desk includes carved game boards and the date AD1628
Bodley’s reordering introduced a choir of angels below the clerestorey
The church has a large number of stained glass windows by different artists, all dating from the 1870s or later
They include major figures such as Shrigley and Hunt, Clayton and Bell, Hardman and Co, Burlison and Grylls, A E Tombleson (for C E Kempe), and Paul Woodroffe
The church is rich in memorials, the earliest being the robbed memorial brass of Simon de Beauchamp (d 1208)
had this survived it may have been the earliest such brass in England
The memorial brass to Sir William Harpur (d 1573) and his wife Margaret, survives in the Trinity Chapel
A second monument to Sir William was erected in 1768 on the north side of the Trinity Chapel altar, sculpted by Benjamin Palmer it has a black marble obelisk, a white sarcophagus and a projecting chest all suspended directly from the wall
On the south side of the chancel is a smiling portrait bust of Andrew Denys (d 1633), rector of St John’s church, standing at a pulpit in a classical aperture
Various other plaques and tablets from the C17-C19 can be found around the church