The North Aisle and Vestry

The aisle was first built in the 13th century.   In the west wall there are traces of a 13th century lancet similar to that in the west wall of the south aisle.   However, the east wall of the aisle is built of the same type of masonry as the north-east angle of the nave and the adjoining walls of the chancel.   It is believed therefore that originally there had been at the east end a side chapel, built before the Viking invasion and contemporary with the upper walls of the chancel.

In the 14th century the aisle was widened to the width of the transept, but the 13th century doorway in the north wall was rebuilt into the new 14th century wall.   At the east end, parts of the north and east walls of the northern Anglo-Saxon side-chapel were left in place and partly rebuilt.

All the two and three-light windows date from the 14th century; the stained glass dates from the 19th and 20th centuries, except for a fragment in the eastern-most window in the north wall.

A gallery was built over the aisle in 1848.    It was removed again in 1885 when the stonework around the north doorway was repaired.

In 1937 an oak altar table was placed at the east end of the aisle and furnished with a dossal and riddel curtains of Morris tapestry to create St Catherine's Chapel.

In 1973, when the then organ was replaced, the pipework of its successor was placed at the west end of the aisle, in an area that also became an outer vestry.   Following the replacement of this organ in 1998, this was redundant. It was replaced in 2009 with a kitchen and toilets, standing on the same footprint, part of the Heritage Development of 2008 - 2010.

The vestry was built in 1939-40 using stone from the Hollington quarries in Staffordshire; the fittings are of English oak.   In 2005 it was refurbished, with new hanging and storage space transforming the drab and cluttered interior.  

In 2009, as part of the Heritage Development of 2008 - 2010, the pipework of the 1973 organ, redundant since its replacement in 1998, was replaced with a kitchen and toilets, standing on the same footprint in the north-west corner. The matching storage area in the south-west corner followed in 2010.