St. George Colegate

This may be one of the later foundations, as the dedication tends to be late – after the Crusade of 1096.

Exterior

As it stands now, the church was built between 1459 (nave), and 1513 (aisles and chapels). The north chapel was built by William Norwich, mayor in 1461, and may well be by the mason John Antell. The clerestorey was glazed in 1514. It is the nave clerestorey which attracts notice: it is tall, and of freestone, which bears witness to the wealth of the parish at that time. The south porch has good, but decayed carvings in it spandrels: one of the Annunciation, and the other of St George being armed by angels. The chancel is of an earlier date, as is often the case.

Interior

Inside, this church is the one which most retains its Georgian atmosphere, and again, the furnishings speak for the wealth of the leading parishioners, who were cloth merchants. There is a large west gallery, erected in 1802 for the organ (one of the very earliest to be installed in a  parish church in Norwich). The pulpit is late eighteenth-century, with a backboard and tester and an elegant staircase. The seating now consists of open benches, which have been cut down from the old box-pews. The reredos is of seventeenth-century style, but of eighteenth-century date. Its panels should have the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. The font is from St Saviour, brought here when that church closed.

The church is flooded with light from the clear glazing in the late Perpendicular windows. The only coloured glass is in the east window. This is supposed to be a copy of Reynolds’ glass at New College, Oxford, but is very badly decayed.

Memorials

St George Colegate has one of the largest collections of monuments and family memorials in Norwich, including many examples of work by the craftsmen from the "Norwich School"

In the north chapel is the terra-cotta tomb-chest of Robert Jannys, mayor 1517 and 1524. It is of terra-cotta, and is by the same craftsman who worked at Oxburgh and at Wymondham. At the east end of the south aisle is a memorial to John Crome, the landscape artist.

To learn about the main characters linked with the church and the roles they played in history click here

 

Churches managed by NHCT are highlighted in in bold below. Click to visit a church.
All Saints Westlegate St. George Tombland St. Julian St. Michael at Plea
St. Andrew St. Giles St. Lawrence St. Peter Hungate
St. Augustine St. Gregory St. Margaret St. Peter Mancroft
St. Benedict St. Helen St. Martin at Oak St. Peter Parmentergate
St. Clement St. James Pockthorpe St. Martin at Palace Plain St. Saviour
St. Edmund Fishergate St. John de Sepulchre St. Mary Coslany St. Simon & St. Jude
St. Etheldreda St. John Maddermarket St. Mary the Less St. Stephen
St. George Colegate St. John Timberhill St. Michael(Miles) Coslany St. Swithin