St Faith’s Church, Farmcote

There is very little documentary evidence for the history of the church before the early modern period, but it is thought that the Saxon builders of the chapel may have made use of an earlier, possibly Roman building. The body of the chapel is Saxon and early Norman, and once featured a round Saxon apse which was unfortunately destroyed in the early 19th century, of which nothing now remains other than the blocked chancel arch.

The building is now just a simple structure consisting solely of a rectangular Saxo-Norman nave, which is a survivor of the early church, along with the remains of a doorway and a double bellcote. The south doorway (the entrance) is 15th century, and there is a blocked north doorway on the opposite side of the building, which is likely early Norman.

Inside the chapel, the Romanesque elements comprise the font, chancel arch and piscina. Immediately obvious is the simple Norman tub font, and the very nice rustic timber roof with its large curved beams. At the end of the nave is a tiny sanctuary, where you would expect to find the chancel. Instead, there is a solid wall with a blocked narrow round-headed arch which is either Saxon or early Norman.

The 15th-century communion table is topped with the original 13th-century stone altar slab, scratched with five crosses, symbolising the five wounds of Christ. Set against the north wall of the sanctuary is a late-16th century limestone chest-tomb. Also in the sanctuary is what looks like a rather bulky Romanesque piscina tucked under a chair against the south wall.

Most of the furnishings are Jacobean, including oak benches, a very nicely carved communion rail, and a canopied oak pulpit and arcaded reading desk.