Welcome to St Edmund Fishergate
Exterior
St Edmunds Church - photo E M Trendell ARPS
One of the smaller churches of the City, it is all Perpendicular as it stands, although its dedication – to the king of East Anglia, martyred in 869 – would indicate a foundation of late Anglo-Saxon date. The tower has a distinctive outline, and the size of the buttresses suggests it may have been intended to stand higher.
The north porch is very humble – merely a flint structure to cover the doorway. It is somewhat dwarfed by the vestry beyond it, with its Victorian Gothic chimney. Between them is the rood stair turret.
The south aisle, which runs the entire length of the nave and chancel, was built in 1463.
Interior
Photo E M Trendell ARPS) The interior has long been completely emptied of its furnishings. These all dated from the restoration of 1882, by Edward Boardman. Until then, the church had retained its eighteenth century fittings. These were remarkable as the communion table was at the east end of the aisle, not of the chancel. A gallery was inserted in 1990.
The method of joining the aisle to the main body of the church illustrates how this was done. Usually, the aisle was built against the wall of the church, which was then pierced by an arcade, thus allowing the church to remain in use for as long as possible during construction work. Here the piercing is highly idiosyncratic: it is a series of arches with expanses of wall in between, which are themselves pierced by large niches, which possibly held statues.