St Mary's Church in Stonham Parva is different to others I've visited as it's not cared for by the Diocese but is one of 20 churches in Suffolk that have been put in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust after being made redundant in 1990 when serious structural faults were found.
The church is tucked away at the end of a lane off the main A140 road. The tower is quite special with patterned flint work.
The church had to be closed for several years but is now open every day
The organ gallery dates from the C18 and is quite a rare survival
Also unusual is the little vestry tucked into a corner, with it's old glass panes it also dates from the C18
We always think that people died young 200 years ago but in many churches there are reminders that many people lived to their 3 score plus 10 years
According to the Churches Conservation Trust page about this church and the Suffolk Churches website this church had old box pews right up to the C18 when they were replaced by pews.
Very plain inside, no stained glass, but light and bright due to the clerestory windows. There's a very large crack running down from the window over the altar, which looks a bit worrying
As the church isn't used for services it was a bit dusty. These tiles in the chancel needed a bit of a clean to show off their colours
From the website................
In the south chapel is the 17th-century
communion table. On the chapel wall are the
painted initials ‘J.G.’ and the date 1703.
These probably refer to James Gibson, a
benefactor to the church and parish, who
may well have paid for the restoration of this
chapel and its roof.
This stone is all in Latin and dating back to the 1600's
The carvings of figures under the hammer-beam roof have all had their faces cut away, this would have been done by the puritans around 1643
Quite a gruesome memorial with skull and crossbones is for Gilbert Mouse who was a servant for two Lord Chancellors and died in 1622, he is buried in St Margaret's Westminster but left money for the needy of the village.
Some carvings are beautiful and missed being destroyed
This Churchyard survey of 2008 lists all the trees, climbers and wild flowers found growing around the church
Lots more information HERE with a link to the brochure containing the complete history of the church.
Back Soon
Sue
This is a nice survey of the church.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteThanks for taking us along for another lovely visit to a church. There is such wonderful history around!
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky to have so many old churches - sad to see them crumbling
DeleteWhat a shame it can't be used as it is quite beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe next village church is only a mile away and another a mile the other direction both in busier villages, so this was the one that got closed
DeleteIt's a very lovely and interesting old church, thank you for taking us on a guided tour. Those undamaged carvings are lovely. xx
ReplyDeleteSo sad to see all the faces cut off so many carvings, glad some survived
DeleteIt is also lovely to see the natural world of trees and plants displayed as a reminder to protect them as well.
ReplyDeleteI'd never see a list like that anywhere before although WI's did a big survey of churchyards several years ago
DeleteWhat a wonderful old church - that hammer-beam roof and carvings - WOW! I am glad that the Puritans couldn't reach up any higher. Doing what they did was sacrilege.
ReplyDeleteThere was a wild flower survey at St Lawrence Church at Bishopstone - I was delighted to see that (and yours here too).
I hope they can raise the funds for on going work.
I'd never seen details of a churchyard survey until I read your post the other week so when I saw this list I thought better have a photo too
DeleteA lovely church. There are so many beautiful churches in the Uk and so little money to keep things going. The country is becoming more secular and the CofE congregation is shrinking every year. Many, many village churches have a very small and aging population. The collection plate isn’t enough to pay the parish share (that is the amount that is paid up to the diocese). Quite a few people have the mistaken notion that “the church is rich”…overall the CoE might be asset rich but when you look at the individual parish church times are pretty hard.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly have lots of assets and land but a lot of fundraising is needed for day to day upkeep.
DeleteI so much prefer visiting ‘redundant’ or ‘friendless’ churches to those still in use with all their modern conveniences! That said our very well-used church here in the village has a fantastic screen and sound system for our Film Society nights. When I was at Essex university 80-83 I lived in a rented house in West Bergholt during my second year (and used to cycle to campus most days and to Brightlingsea and back to sail/windsurf too - I still cycle in the South Downs and feel almost as fit as I was in my twenties!) and there was a lovely circular walk to the redundant church of St Mary situated in the middle of farmland. Despite its redundancy there used to be occasional services at Harvest time and Advent and Whitsun and I do think my love of old churches dates back to those days. Do you know Old St Mary’s? It’s close to the Essex/Suffolk border (used to have lovely cycle rides around the beautiful and unspoilt countryside too) so perhaps not too far for a visit? Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteI prefer churches that have changed with time to be usable for people now. Seeing one looking sad and unused doesn't fill me with any joy at all.
DeleteA lot of the churches you visit remind me of the church in the TV series "Father Brown"!
ReplyDeleteFather Brown's church is a bit of an odd one as he is a Catholic Priest but the Church is C of E!
DeleteBeautiful restoration. Restoring churches is important work. When the doors open for parishioners, I hope people will gather and support this church. The gardens must be lovely with all the plantings shown on the inventory.
ReplyDeleteNo Parishioners will gather here again I'm afraid.
DeleteExactly, the church has, presumably been deconsecrated- or am I wrong?
DeleteDoes this church become a museum of sorts?
DeleteI don't believe that I will ever get over the awe of just how many churches there are in your country. Amazing craftsmanship in all of them. Faith built them, but faith also attacked them. Seems so meaningless, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteOne for every village - large or small and then all the non-conformist churches too! and all hardly used
DeleteThat is a gorgeous pipe organ. So many places of faith being made redundant. Here we seem to just decommission them and sell them for people to renovate into homes.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.