When I ran the Greater Churches Battle on here many of you became quite enamoured by St Peter Mancroft and her fancy hat.

Well, yesterday I got to lurk in, on, and under her after she closed for the day - and I'd love to share the adventure (and some facts) with you all!

As with all good night time church adventures, this one started with a Great Big Key. Look at that chonker! Nobody will be breaking in here any time soon!

St Peter Mancroft was built in the mid 1400's and, aside from the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals, she's the biggest church in Norwich - a city with so many churches it's said that in the middle ages you would have been able to go to a different one every Sunday for a full year.

As part of the exploration I was honoured to be able to descend into the crypt and see the Norman foundations which date from the 1000's - no photos of that, however, because I believe the dead were interred with a certain expectation of privacy and peace that we should respect.

After going down, we went up. The bell ringing chamber has a glass wall now, and through it you can see Mancroft's exquisite hammer-beam roof, with rows of angels on each side. The line between Nave and Chancel is marked by the appearance of gilded roof bosses and extra angels.

Inside the ringing chamber at St Peter Mancroft is the gorgeous Western stained glass window - in my opinion a tasteful balance of modern and historical, with a sense of a sunset about it in the gradient.

Also in the ringing chamber is this fabulous roof, and above it the bell chamber, containing the bells. I didn't see that because apparently the bell ringers get angry when people go in there and even the Vicar seems to be a bit scared of their wrath. (Fair enough)

We continued on up the spiral staircase, past a number of these cool little windows, and a LOT of old graffiti...

Until finally we came to the top of the tower, and saw the city of Norwich spread out before us.

St Peter Mancroft's "hat" which you all found so charming is actually what is known in England as a 'flèche' - a small mini-spire or spike, often made of lead.

This was added in 1845, because apparently someone thought the church wasn't already impressive enough...

I played with the exposure a bit here so you can get a glimpse of the internal structure of the flèche, with wooden beams radiating outwards and helping it keep its shape.

Finally we returned to the ground - but not before enjoying the views over the city for a little bit longer...

Mancroft also has a small set of transepts (so extra for a parish church - I love it), the Northern arm is currently a small museum holding the historic silver collection - and the Southern arm is a small side chapel.

To sum up - she's a gorgeous ancient church, with fabulous links to the local community (especially the market next door) and a long musical tradition.

Thanks to @Becky_Minta for successfully persuading the Vicar to let me have a proper snoop around.

A small thread of behind the scenes photos of me lurking: https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1277869341304934400?s=19

Also, St Peter Mancroft has some of the most gorgeous doors I've ever seen. This is the one that leads to the crypt (the doorway is about 5ft high at its tallest point):