Ornate patterns in church area (8)
I believe the answer is:
transept
'church area' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'ornate patterns' is the wordplay.
'ornate' is an anagram indicator (an unusual or complex form of the letters).
'patterns' is an anagram of 'TRANSEPT'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for transept that I've seen before include "Patterns found in parts of church" , "Part of church off aisle" , "always running north to south" , "Side part of a church" , "Section of church" .)