St Saviour Norwich

There was no saint called ‘Saviour’ – the church is dedicated in honour of ‘the Transfiguration of the Holy Saviour’, and so for convenience the name was cut down!

Exterior

The tower presents a very odd appearance, and this is explained by the fact that its top storey was removed in 1853, and new set of battlements built. The belfry windows were reset lower down on the north and south sides, while on the west face the sound-hole was left in place instead. The west doorway was remodelled – either then or possibly in 1728, when the south porch was rebuilt. Its doorway is the original fifteenth-century one reset - and much mutilated.

The nave was restored in 1852, but retains its Perpendicular windows. Those in the chancel are reticulated, and are of the fourteenth century; the chancel itself was restored in 1923.

 

 


Interior

After its closure, it became first a parish hall, and then a badminton court. It is now in use as a youth centre, and has been altered accordingly.

The furnishings, which were simple, and largely dating from the 1852 restoration, have all been removed.

Of these, the font is now in St George Colegate. It consists of an octagonal bowl with quatrefoils set on a shaft with engaged shafts, grotesque heads at the bases, and nodding ogees above. They are clearly from two different fonts – and which one was the original St Saviour font?

The gallery, a wooden Gothick erection, is now, in a reduced form, in All Saints.

Other furnishings still in place when it was closed included Commandment Boards behind the altar, pitch-pine pews, and an organ of 1860 in the gallery. The conservative nature of these is explained by the long incumbency of Harris Cooke, from 1856 until 1909. He was offered at least six other livings during his time here, and each time refused owing to pressure from his congregation at St Saviour.

The nave roof is concealed by a ceiling of plaster; the chancel roof dates from 1923.

 

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