Epperstone Holy Cross

Features and Fittings

The chancel and
east end

Altar

An oak table with carved front piece, believed to date from the 16th century. In 1819 it had been removed from the church and replaced by a marble altar and crimson velvet cloth given by Baroness Howe of Langar. The original table was preserved by the family of the Agent, Captain Dufty, found eventually in the Manor House laundry and returned to the church in 1953 by his descendant, Violet Brett. There is no record of the fate of the marble altar. The altar is flanked by two wooden reading desks. Plain communion rails stand in front of the sanctuary.

Carved Angels

The chancel has two winged angel corbels carved in oak.

The pulpitPulpit

An original three deck pulpit was replaced in the restorations of 1877 by the present single stage one which has carvings in its face panels.

Pews

Earlier high pews were replaced in 1853. In 1877 new pews were included in the restoration work, a new reading desk and organ added and better heating installed. Choir stalls are also of a simple design, similar to those in the nave and a plaque records that these are in memory of George Thomas McLean, Rector 1911-13 and 1932-31, and his wife Dorothy Jeannie Dunbar, 1954.

The fontFont

A Norman plain stone drum with modern wood cover in Jacobean style. The edge of the cover is engraved in memory of Thomas William Huskinson (1862-1935) and Mary Margaret his wife (1858-1921). The font now stands on a floor of early gravestones removed from the churchyard. An inscription on the oldest of these is dated 1611 and reads: ‘Time was I stood where thou dost now and viewed the dead as thou dost me. Ere long thou’ll lie as low as I and others stand and look on thee.’

Lighting

This is principally by four brass chandeliers over the aisle.