St John's Church, Devizes

St John’s church in the attractive Wilshire market town of Devizes is a pleasant showcase for eleventh- and twelfth-century Norman architecture. There is a certain thickness and heaviness about it; everything is very solid, substantial, and bulky. In the chancel there is blind arcading, lightened somewhat by the zigzag carvings above. Its rib-vault roof is impressive, but a little overbearing.

In the fifteenth century, a new chapel was added to the church, built in the latest 'perpendicular' style. The windows are larger, admitting more light, the stone carvings are more detailed and delicate, and the arches are flattened at the top. Both styles were highly fashionable in the days of their construction, but were out of favour within a century or so. As medieval architectural tastes developed, increasing levels of light were introduced to the otherwise dark churches. Although it might have been hampered by coloured glass, the days of Reformation were coming when those stains would be removed and an even more effusive light would wash Church and congregations alike.

Just as weeds will always return, so shadows lengthen. We must always be shining the light wherever we are and wherever we go. Five hundred years after Tyndale’s Bible, and the church and nation are barely brighter. Let us keep seeking Christ and His light; let us keep reflecting it, too.