The nave is unusually long for a parish church, the full length of the church measuring 168 ft (51.2m) from the east end to the west door. The nave dates from the early 13th century, and was built soon after the chancel was completed. The aisles were added later in the 13th century, and in the second half of the 14th century the roof was raised and a clerestory added. The roof you see today dates from 1956-60 and replaced the medieval tie-beam roof. It is decorated with the arms of the Incent and Torrington families.
You may notice that the pillars are not straight but lean outward. This is not caused by a structural problem – it appears that they were built like this. Nobody knows for sure, but it may have been a deliberate design by the medieval builders to strengthen the building.
Most of the pillars are circular in cross-section, but for some unknown reason, three nearest the altar are of a quatrefoil shape (four circles). The pillars were once decorated with paintings of the Apostles and St George and the Dragon which had been covered with whitewash; they were rediscovered in 1728 but finally completely removed during Butterfield’s renovations in the 1870s.
Another oddity of the church can be observed from the nave: if you look straight ahead towards the altar, you will see that the east window is off-centre. In fact, the plan of the church is not straight – the chancel is angled slightly to the south-east. It is sometimes argued that this feature, which can be seen in many medieval churches, was deliberately introduced to signify human imperfection.
