Occold is a village not far out of the small town of Eye. I'm not sure why I'd not thought of calling there before but anyway I drove the extra couple of miles and found I was four days too late for a flower festival and fete!
Luckily many of the beautiful arrangements were still in the church.
It was a dull morning with grey skies so the photos are not the best. St Michael's is a very typical Suffolk church - tower , nave, chancel, sanctuary and entrance through a porch.
The font is plain having had all imagery removed but there are some interesting tiles around the base (I discovered afterwards when looking at the Suffolk Churches Index) that are covered by the flower arrangements
Stuart Coat of Arms
The pulpit is heavily carved with a sounding board above
On the window ledge to the right of the pulpit is the tiny stairway that would have gone to the rood loft.
View down the nave to the altar
The theme for the Flower Festival was Special Days and this below is for Christmas
Altar
Only a couple of windows have stained glass, this one below has some modern glass to remember Nerissa Jones, a children's book illustrator who lived next door to the church and died in 1985. Plus some pieces of the medieval glass smashed on demand of William Dowsing- the man sent round the churches in the 1640's to destroy all catholic imagery
More pieces of rescued glass in this window
Unusual flower arrangement here, I think the yellow roses are for the sun in blue bottles for the sky
An almost Puritan message on a memorial board from the 1840's
'Be ye always ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.'
In the churchyard is this Huge Horse Chestnut
Back Soon
Sue
Oh my, such lovely photos. I especially love the stained glass ones and the yellow flowers in blue bottles.
ReplyDeleteThe yellow flowers in the blue bottles is a neat idea for a theme of \'Sunny Day'
DeleteI am surprised they allowed arrangements to be placed on the tiles like that. Love the stained glass, always a fan of that art form.
ReplyDeleteThe Horse Chestnuts, by all accounts are having a good year today.
*this year, not today
DeleteSuch a shame that so much was destroyed back in the 1600's. I bet they never thought bits would be rescued and used again
DeleteThe yellow roses in blue bottles are very striking.
ReplyDeleteIt's a clever idea
DeleteI agree, the blue bottles with yellow roses look so effective. Thanks for sharing all the church information, I find it fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I've still got many hundreds in Suffolk I could visit - somehow I don't think I'll manage all of them!
DeleteMy favorite is the blue bottles with the yellow flowers. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteA clever idea for a sunny day arrangement
DeleteInteresting how they were able to incorporate the fragments of medieval glass into the newer windows. I like that. Beautiful horse chestnut! Am I ready for the Son of Man (?) to cometh? I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteWe've been waiting 2,000 years so I guess we ought to be ready!!
DeleteI like church flower festivals. (US churches should consider them.) The flower arrangements in your photos are lovely and show lots of talent. The chestnut tree is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI've not been to many flower festivals recently - don't get to hear about them often.
DeleteThat Horse Chestnut is a whopper!
What lovely arrangements of flowers. Now that is a huge Horse Chestnut tree. I can only imagine how ruthless people were in getting rid of Catholic imagery in the various churches and cathedrals. What I found amazing is that many people on our tour through the British Isles had no idea that the churches/cathedrals actually started life as Catholic....
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
All due to Henry VIII in the C16 and then the Puritans did even more damage in the C17. It's amazing really that so many old churches are still standing and being used, even if congregations are dwindling.
DeleteI think the yellow flowers in the blue bottles are a tribute to Ukraine. The arrangement is striking though.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are really lovely. Such an interesting church!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky to have so many of these beautiful structures still around. The churches in our city that have closed or lost too many parishioners, often end up decaying and vandalized. This is a pretty little gem of a church!
ReplyDelete