Nave The font dated 1639 was given by Sir Richard Heigham (the pedestal
was added later). The metal cover is a memorial of the Rev. S. H. Reynolds,
Vicar of East Ham 1871 —1893, a noted writer of leading articles for
'The Times'.
The two churchwardens' prickers dated 1805 are not ornamental wands of
office to be carried on ceremonial occasions, but were used to awaken
sleepers who found the long sermons of the early nineteenth century too
much for them.
Windows In the walls are two small Norman windows with the remains of a third.
This third window had been cut into by a decorated window inserted in the
fourteenth century. Originally the Norman windows were unglazed and
might or might not have been stopped up to keep out the weather, and for
the sake of security were placed high and kept small. Though the wide splay
admits as much light as possible the original church must have been very
dark. This was a small matter in the days when so few had books or could
read, but in the early nineteenth century four large windows were put in
and three Norman windows were destroyed in the process. The brick
window with three lights on the South side of the chancel dates from the
seventeenth century.
The brightly coloured window behind the altar is of plastic material and
dates from 1971.
Chancel On the North side of the chancel, next the pulpit and built into the
thickness of the wall is the derelict rood-loft staircase. The doorway at the
top seems to have been repaired in Jacobean times and originally led to a
wooden bridge right across the entrance to the chancel: this, in many
churches, was big enough for a band of musicians. The rood which stood on
it (same word as rod, wood or tree) was a large cross or crucifix.
The blind arcading with intersecting Norman arches is of special interest.
The zig-zag ornament has been cut with small stonemason's axes and shows
a delightful irregularity which is a token of the touch of human personality.
Some think that the pointed shape created by the intersection of semi-
circles was the origin of the Gothic pointed arch. If this is so, the piercings
in the wall within these pointed shapes on the South side, which were made
in the thirteenth century, show exactly how the Early English style came
into being.
Above the step (still on the North side) is the hatch to an anchorite's cell
within the thickness of the wall. There is an outer door to this cell, but
through the hatch the anchorite could take his Communion and talk to
visitors.
The brightly-coloured figure of the patron saint at the entrance to the
sanctuary is of Flemish origin. She carries in her right hand the box of
precious ointment.
Apse The timbers supporting the roof are unique in that they remain
exactly as the Norman carpenters left them in 1130 and have never been
repaired. There is no iron in the construction, which is held together by
wooden pegs. The outside covering of such a roof has a much shorter life
(probably averaging 50 years) and in this case might originally have been
of thatch, later of tiles or slate. Originally there was an internal vault to
the roof; one of the pilasters supporting this is seen on the right of the
East window, its companion on the left being hidden by the Nevill
monument. On the South side is a double piscina (drain for holy water) of
the thirteenth century. The iron cross and candlesticks date from 1972.