The Church of St Nicholas, Rattlesden

 I don't know why I'd not been to this church before now as it's not really far from home, just a few miles through lanes on the other side of the A14.

The small spire on top of the tower is quite unusual.              

The first thing you notice when walking in is the Rood Screen and Loft with the crucifixion. It was constructed between 1909 and 1916 and is based on a small piece of the medieval one that remained.

The lower part of the screen has heavy doors between Nave and Chancel

What is unusual is this locked gate over in the south aisle with a small stairway up to a part of the loft

And a small stairway from this part of the loft to the main part across the Nave.This is what Simon Knott says about it on the Suffolk Churches website.

 But what makes St Nicholas remarkable is that it has one of the most complete and precise reconstructions of a rood screen system in England. It was constructed between 1909 and 1916 to the designs of George Fellowes Prynne. It is based on a medieval fragment surviving at the west end. One of the reasons it is so impressive is that it does not try to recreate a medieval effect, but rather serves to demonstrate the actual mechanics of how the whole thing worked. If you are lucky enough to be allowed through the locked grill, the original roodloft stair in the south aisle takes you up into the loft of the parclose screen as at Dennington, and then up a ladder and through an opening in the south arcade across into the roodloft itself

Seats for the clergy in the Sanctuary

East window, altar and carved reredos of the last supper

On my way into church I met an elderly man who had just finished some cleaning and was on his way home, he told me all this woodwork and steps up to the ringing chamber are recent additions.

They look very smart

The pews in the nave have been replaced by chairs, although they look just as solid as a pew!. The kneelers were so colourful.

Over in the north aisle is a small chapel to remember the men of the The Mighty Eighth, USAF who flew from the nearby airfield towards the end of WWII

So many Suffolk churches have some sort of memorial to the USAF as  almost every village had an airfield nearby. The men were welcomed into the homes of local people to eat with them and the children loved the 'candy' they always had. Now the descendants of the airmen come to visit and remember them.

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Sue