Holy Trinity Church Stowupland

 This small church is very unusual for a Suffolk village church as it's less than 200 years old. In northern cities many churches were built in the first half of the C19 to cater for the growing population of the Industrial Revolution, but we didn't have so much of an industrial revolution in Suffolk so only two were built here at that time. This one which is  just a few miles from Stowmarket and another one in Ipswich. 

It's built of local Woolpit white bricks and cost just £1,500 in 1843. Before this people would have gone down into the town of Stowmarket to worship where once two churches were on the same site one for the town and the other for the villages of Stowupland, Gipping, Old Newton and Dagworth (collectively known in the Doomsday book as Thorney). One was demolished in the C16 leaving just Stowmarket Parish church.

Eventually Rev Hollingsworth - the vicar of Stowmarket at the time - pushed for a church in Stowupland and funding came from several people.

Just inside is a board telling the story of the church and the font (which I forgot to photograph).

A plain church, no stained glass and all white painted inside with a simple arch and a small chancel 

The gallery and organ at the west end

Below is the board listing the vicars for Stowupland which is now in a benefice sharing a vicar with Haughley and Wetherden (which is odd as they are not the closest churches to Stowupland). They are waiting for the new vicar to be licenced at the end of this month.

A new extension was added in 1984 to make a useful church hall.

Unlike it's neighbour in Stowmarket with it's new 10 bells, Stowupland has just one for calling people to worship.

There is a really good description of how the church building came about HERE ,written by the local history group.

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Sue