Where Bembridge slopes southward to the sea the small church and the stately 17th century manor house of Yaverland stand side by side, both with something from the past. Yaverland was an island until the 13th century, when the lord of the manor made a causeway to Yarbridge. The church was built about 1150 as the private chapel of the manor. The house, with tall wide gables and an imposing front, is one of the finest on the island. Part of the 12th century walls are left; the side wings were added in 1620. Its chief beauty is in the carving of the fine door and the oak staircase with grotesque corbels on the wall.

The best part of the church is in the doorway and the chancel arch, which are counted the best Norman craftsmanship in the island. The doorway (near which is a mass dial) has a lovely tympanum of diapered pattern, and wide mouldings of short pilasters and zigzags. A friendly face smiles from above it, and the two pillars are rich in a shell-like pattern. The chancel arch is not surpassed for its impressiveness in any Hampshire church. Its slender pillars are completely covered with similar designs, and the deeply cut mouldings are exquisitely carved. There is a small movable holy water stoup with a broken bowl which was found when the church was restored in the 19th century; it is 15th century, and preserved with it is another vessel discovered at that time, a big Celtic urn that must have seen twenty centuries. It rests on a carved bracket which was once part of the ancient roof. The font is 14th century. There is a 15th century holy water stoup, and the rood stairs have survived the Reformation.

Text courtesy of: Southern Life (UK)