Arnold church: Easter Sepulchre

Arnold church: Easter Sepulchre

ARNOLD a century and more ago was looked upon almost as a health resort, and it boasted several boarding schools which obtained more than local celebrity. Also it had its mill, and the houses which still remain and are known as Cottage Row, have a sordid story of the treatment meted out to Poor Law apprentices to tell, as well as the glorious story of the conduct of Messrs. Davison and Hawksley, the proprietors of the Arnold Mill, who, during the famine of 1793, nearly ruined themselves by selling corn below cost price to the distressed inhabitants of the district.

Arnold Church boasts one of those magnificent fourteenth century chancels which are the pride of the country, and Arnold east window is a really beautiful composition

The first half of the fourteenth century, before the disaster of the Black Death, was a colourful time of great wealth and sumptuousness in England. In Nottingham the fashion of architecture had been set by the glorious and elaborately decorated chapter house and screen at Southwell, and the wealthy churchmen of the county vied with each other in the beautifying of their village churches .

The work was carried out in what is known as the decorated style of architecture, and to this period we owe such wonders as Hawton, Woodborough and Arnold. One of the furnishings of these chancels was the Easter Sepulchre, which, representing the tomb of Our Lord, was used for the preservation of the Host from Maunday Thursday till the Easter Morning. These sepulchres were elaborately decorated and adorned by figures, and when in their pristine state must have been very impresslve.

Arnold chancel is also noteworthy for its sedilia and for its double piscina, and the church altogether is worthy of careful study.