Thursday 9 August 2018

St Peter and Saint Paul Church in Hoxne

Hoxne (pronounced to rhyme with oxen) is up near the border with Norfolk and I decided to detour there on my way back from swimming. So looked for the 100 treasures book to check what I should look out for, no sign of the book anywhere. (It's now in the post back from Surrey where it traveled in the back of daughters car by mistake)

I went anyway and took photos of anything that looked interesting and then looked on the Suffolk Churches website later.

The car park is behind the large church and when I walked around to the entrance porch I spotted the lych- gate, so walked down to take a photo of it, turned round to photo the church,


spotted the huge fir-cones on a Massive tree and took another photo and then forgot the lychgate! DUH!
I'll go back in autumn to collect some of these cones and take a photo of the lychgate.

Inside the church -
The first things that caught my eye were the chandelier lantern lights, all down the centre of the nave and the C15 font with a more modern and elaborate font cover. So many of the churches I've visited have had something similar
There's lots of stained glass windows
With interesting pictures or symbols -
Up above I noticed this date on a beam in the side aisle
and these bosses on the ceiling  in the tower
There's an interesting display case full of bricks made in the village

and this tomb caught my eye.
 The name on there is Sir Edward Kerrison and this was a well known name in the past for any young men from the area who had been in trouble with the law. Kerrison was the name of a institution called a Reformed School ( More info here ). It's in Thorndon a village not far from home. Now the buildings are mainly un-used except as offices for a few charities and a day centre for people with learning difficulties.

And finally..........The most famous thing about Hoxne is that it is, according to legend, the site of the martyrdom of King Edmund who was king of East Anglia. Murdered by a viking raid in 870. He was then decapitated and his followers searched for 3 days for the head  and found it being guarded by a huge wolf. His body was then carried to the abbey in the town that became Bury St Edmunds.
I know that somewhere in a field nearby is a monument to St Edmund that marks the spot where a huge tree once stood thought to be the place where Edmund was murdered because  when the tree fell and was cut, a Viking  arrow  head was found embedded in the tree 13 centuries deep.

I had read about the bench-end showing Edmund's head being guarded by the wolf and luckily there was a notice on the notice board explaining where to find this bench end . Not in the main church but to one side where it can't be sat on, used or damaged anymore than it is now - just through old age or maybe in the reformation.



An interesting place although I was expecting more about St Edmund. When the book arrives back I'll find out what I missed!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

24 comments:

  1. It all sound absolutely fascinating and I'll look forward to the photo of the lych gate in the autumn. That beam was well spotted but you couldn't miss the font cover!!
    I'm so glad your book was where you thought it was.
    xx

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    1. The book has arrived back, posted Saturday 1st class took 4 days!

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  2. Hoxne is a very beautiful place. Lovely church too. I have never been inside it. Thanks for the photographs.

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    1. I missed the church car park sign at first and had to turn round and go back. There are so many huge trees in the churchyard I nearly missed the church hidden behind

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  3. The bricks are so interesting and the pattern moulds remind me of butter moulds on a bigger scale. Glad your book is on its way home.

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    1. The brick moulds were interesting, all sorts of sizes for bricks and tiles and pipes. Unfortunately I couldn't get the notices inside the cases clear enough to read

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  4. I have the same book and it is the bench end that is the treasure. I think your photo is actually better than the one in the book.
    Traveller

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  5. I love the stained glass in churches. What always strikes me is how big churches were and even with a much smaller population how they were probably filled every Sunday. I know we have to move with the times but when I walk into a church that's removed their pews in favour of plastic stacking chairs I could cry. Hope you are keeping well. xx

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    1. I’m with you on the plastic chairs! I’m not a regular church goer but have gone a few times lately. In some churches, even fairly small ones, there are now video screens on either side of the altar so that you can “follow along.” No, I’m not at all a fan of that innovation.

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    2. All the churches I've been in have had old pews but I know several chapels - Methodist and Baptist where the pews have been replace by comfy chairs - not plastic! which means the chapels can get used for events other than Sunday services and that must be a good thing.

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    3. oh and of course the churches wouldn't have had pews at first as everyone had to stand through services in medieval times

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    4. All the churches in Norfolk have the old pews and when there is a musical event or singing evening such as we seem to have a lot of in this community, I take a cushion to sit on. In winter our church also hands out blankets!

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  6. The bosses in the tower ceiling are lovely. And I noticed in the background of a brick photo, the various kneelers on the pews. Imagine many had needlepoint covers.

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    1. Every church I've visited have had fantastic kneelers lovingly stitched sometime in the past

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  7. What an interesting church and lovely that they have the old Tools of the Trade' display, best of all, they are local tools.

    (ps I have just sent another batch of archaeology books to your son, 2nd class, so they will be a few days.)

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    1. Thank you on his behalf for more magazines.
      There are some pipes laying around here just like the drainage pipes in the glass display case. I wonder if they were made in Hoxne.

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  8. Lovely church. For me the chandelier lanterns do not seem to fit the style of the rest of the church. Interesting information about King Edmund and the link between Hoxne and Bury St Edmunds.

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  9. What fantastic churches you have around. Not much of that sort of building up here NE Scotland, but there is the odd gem. One of which holds an annual art exhibition! Which I fully support.

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  10. What a wonderful church. About 20 years ago our parish decided to install a 12 circuit labyrinth based on the one in Chartres. It was a huge remodel and it's a lovely walk inside the sanctuary. One additional thing they did was to pad all the pews. Comfortable now. If they hold services around the labyrinth, they use plastic chairs.

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  11. Watch out if you place those cones somewhere warm...Some very similar looking ones exploded their lovely sticky mess all over my old mantle several years ago! x

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