The Porch and Lychgate

You are now back by the main door.

As you leave the church you will walk through the south door and into the church porch.

The south porch played an important part in village life, with a large part of the ceremonies of marriages and baptism being carried out there.

The priest still meets the bride at the church door but that is all that is left of the old ceremony that once took place there.

Offenders were tried there and school classes were even held in the porch - in his book about the history of the All Saints Church, Claude Domoney comments "…..how tough our forebears must have been to sit here on a bitter winters day, howling gale blowing, or perhaps snow whirling around them on a biting wind and laboriously con their horn books or parchment scrolls, faces, hands and feet steadily getting more numb the while and in many cases glad to do it for learning was a precious and highly valued thing.'

As you leave teh church and walk towards Portland Road the last think you will come to is the Lychgate.

The Lychgate was not built until 1896 - Lychgates were built at the entrance to churchyards to shelter the coffin (or lych) whilst the first part of the burial service was being held there.

Today those making their last journey into church still come via the Lychgate. It is also a very popular place for newly married couples to leave the church by and where they usually get bombarded by confetti.

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