I visited this Suffolk village church on my way home from Lavenham a couple of weeks ago.
The sign by the road made me smile.......if you've got it......flaunt it!
It stands on a slight rise and has a large porch
But just before I went inside I spotted this - must have frightened a few children over the years!
The view down the Nave, it was a bit gloomy outside
This one - hard to see in the poor light - is the remains of the Harrowing of Hell which depicts the triumphant descent of Christ into Hell or Hades between the time of his crucifixion and his resurrection. It's thought to be a very rare depiction.
Under the East window is the third painting, the crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, which I didn't take a proper picture of - for some reason.
A glorious stained glass window over the altar mirrors the painting below but when it was put there by the Victorians they didn't know about the paintings.
When I visit a church with wall paintings, which would have been quite common in the C12 and C13, I often wonder if there are others waiting to be uncovered when churches are repaired or if they were all lost during Puritan clearing or Victorian restoration.
The other thing mentioned on the sign by the road is the box pews, with a much more recent tapestry
This huge memorial is for Edward Colman who died in the 1740's. His father bequeathed a collection of 1,000 books to the church but they were later dispersed.
Also worth noting is the Georgian communion rail which is three sided and quite unusual as there are only a few in East Anglia.
The C13 font is made from Purbeck marble with a Jacobean font cover.
Just as I was leaving a shaft of sunlight lit the flowers by the raised pulpit
There are many more photos, taken in better light, and information on On Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches website
Fantastic wall paintings. Wonder if they were painted over in Cromwell’s time?
ReplyDeleteEither in the reformation or by Cromwell's lot!
DeleteWhat a lovely church and those wall paintings are SO early. I am fascinated by wall paintings and seen a few down the years. I seem to remember the chapel at Haddon Hall (Derbyshire) has medieval frescos, but my favourite is still St Mary's Church at Kempley (nr. Dymock, Herefs) which has wonderful vibes too.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the link.
Until I started this tour I had no idea we had so many in Suffolk
DeleteNice that the church was open for you to visit. I would bet there are more wall paintings to be discovered in other churches.
ReplyDeleteMost Suffolk Churches are open each day = I've seen several wall paintings now
DeleteQuite a few treasures in the church. Amazing that the stained glass window mirrors the wall painting below when it wasn't even known to be there.
ReplyDeleteYes it's odd because it would have been covered at least 200 years before the Victorians
DeleteHow lovely, I did enjoy seeing the photos and reading what they were of.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed seeing another of our village churches
DeleteAnother great one! Arilx
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me to see the paintings that were done so long ago. I also wonder if there could be more to be discovered. I enjoy the your church visit posts. The amount of history in these churches is incredible!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful paintings and I love the box pews.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
The communion rail is the first I've ever seen. The box pews are lovely. The art on the walls is amazing and to think is lay inside the walls until revealed during restoration work. You do have lots of churches in Suffolk. Do people devote themselves to one church?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this - a very beautiful church and the paintings a real treasure.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting-looking church!
ReplyDelete