St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Gosberton
Description
The North Aisle is bounded on the north by a wall, into which are inserted three large windows, a door, and a smaller window above the door.
It is bounded on the south by an arcade, which partitions it from the Nave. The arcade consists of four arches, between which are pillars (or piers).
On the west side is a window.
On the east side is the archway into the North Transept.
How old is the North Aisle?
The North Aisle is thought to have been erected in the late13th century.
It takes an eagle eye to spot that it was originally shorter in length than it is today. When it was originally built, it extended from the North Transept (to the east) to just beyond the door (to the west), the length of three arches. At this point this was the church’s most westerly point.
However, the whole of the west end of the North Aisle, the Nave and the South Aisle were subsequently extended outwards by the length of another arch. Kaye, in his book, ‘A Brief History of the Church and Parish of Gosberton,’ (1897), tells us that this was sometime between 1436 and 1450. He tells us that “the work was at the bequest of William Whytebrede of Gosberkyrke, stating in the will that his executors, together with the executors of the will of John Thacker, should “enlarge Gosberkyrk Church in length at the west end by an arch on either side of the same structure as the rest of the arches.” Hence the most westerly of the windows in the north wall of the North Aisle, being added as part of the extension, was built to match the style of the older windows in the original part of the North Aisle. And a good job they made of the match.
