The village takes it's name from the church............. Rushmere St Andrew, which is now almost part of Ipswich and at first glance the church looks like many other Suffolk churches.
But as you walk up the path and look to the right you see a whole new extension, a Church Hall to use for village events ,built to accommodate the growing population as the village becomes a suburb.
And inside the main building is not quite as you would expect either another more recent addition and the reason this church gets a mention in the 100 Churches book. The chancel was enlarged and modernised in 1967.It really is a church of two halves!
This means the altar is now central so that both parts of the church - old and new can be used separately or both at once.
This photo I'm standing in the old part looking over the altar into the new modern enlarged chancel
And to take this photo I'm in the new bit looking back to the older church and then
standing with the altar behind me a closer look at the medieval building
There are a few narrow stained glass windows in the older part of the church
Also getting a mention in the book are the C19 carved bench ends - lots of angels
and one holds a model of the chancel before it was rebuilt and extended
A Large carved memorial in the old part of the church
A very modern artwork of the Last Supper in the new bit.
It was unusual to find someone in a church but there was a lady there cleaning so it was nice to have a chat about the modern extension and how useful it is to the village.
Lots more pictures and explanation of the building CAN BE SEEN HERE
Many Thanks for all the comments and ideas for Sarah in Dorset - I hope she knows people are rooting for her.............. hoping she can get through.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
How brilliant to find a church building in regular use and a blessing to the community. Just how it should be!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I wonder if they have a large, worshipping congregation to fill this church on Sundays. One can see in one's minds eye a huge number of people singing Hallelujah. Odd because that does not seem to be the case in churches here. They have one service in four and share one vicar. Thank you for the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI really, really love that church. They seem to have blended the old and the modern really well together - I can't say seemlessly because of the differences in style but certainly smoothly. It looks loved and cared for.
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A good use of a space which provides for the whole village and hopefully the whole village will come together here even if they do not usually attend church. The pews were taken out of my local church and part of the space is used as a hall. The remaining part that crosses the alter is used for worship and has ordinary chairs instead of pews. It is a well used church now.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting church and very big. I notice the populalation was 10,000 in the area so can image they get a good congregation, it was nice to see the pale blue curtains and the carpet.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue.
Hazel c uk
Always enjoy your church visit posts. This one looks like it is responding to growth and to make those additions they must have increased attendance that finances it. Yes, it is a nice mix of old and new.
ReplyDeleteIt’s such an interesting church, Sue. It’s lovely that the extended part has been built sympathetically, but I wonder why they felt the need to paint the rafters/beams, in the new part, red? I bet the acoustics are really good. Thanks for giving us the tour!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how quite a number of churches now have transformed their interiors into modern community spaces. Was very impressed with one in Leeds we recently looked at.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and sympathetic expansion - they did an amazing job!
ReplyDeleteI happen to attend and work at St. Andrew's Church here in Toronto. We have a few with that name but we are the oldest congregation - 190 years in 2020 and our church itself was built in 1874 to house an expanding congregation - which is old for Toronto.
I find it odd that you say it's strange to find someone in the church - we are smack in the middle of both the Entertainment District & the Financial District and our doors open at 8:30am. We get lots of visitors and the church and extension of Hall, Offices, meeting rooms & a Day-Care ensures that it is in use at least 6 days out of 7 (and if there is a wedding or a concert on a Saturday then its 7 days out of 7)!
Thank you for another wonderful tour.
I loved seeing this...I think I prefer the old part but both have their pluses.
ReplyDeleteLove those carved bench ends. The addition suits the older portion very well.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I really enjoyed seeing this Sue. The old and the new really do compliment each other and have been done so well. Our cathedral is supposed to have a new extension and the public are wondering how that will work out.
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