Element of one of the 15th century carved bench finishes in the nave at Ufford. The bench ends listed here are unusual in staying adorned with pairs of carved animals / figures struggling with the two east and west (somewhat than the standard a single struggling with east).
Ufford’s church of the Assumption is justly famed and wants little introduction in churchcrawling circles. It is 1 of all those specific churches which is not only a most handsome making in its own appropriate but retains far more of its medieval features than most, and 1 incredible piece that is of such renown it would be really worth coming in this article to see all on its have the reality the church is these a gem irrespective can make an extra reward!
I initial arrived right here many years back as my desire in church buildings blossomed in childhood. We understood this just one was value a exclusive vacation and I remembered it appropriately (lengthy prior to I took any 50 % good photos of study course). Getting so close I could not resist the urge to revisit Ufford, over 3 a long time later on.
The church seems entirely of 15th century day (nevertheless clearly a church has stood on this website for substantially lengthier) and the good west tower announces its presence as just one approaches from the street. The churchyard is a green and pleasantly sheltered room (even while the trees make it hard to get an general watch of the building) and the route prospects straight to the attractive south porch, all adorned with playful flint flushwork layouts. As pleasant even though the exterior is even so the lure of this church lies in just and and is much too inviting to resist.
Inside the church it is instantly obvious that this light and charming place has considerably of curiosity with medieval pews all about populated by figurative carvings, but shifting from the south aisle to the nave one particular is confronted by what makes Ufford so renowned, the font with its towering wooden canopy, reaching as higher as the nave roof! The font alone is quite regular for Suffolk and not substantial, but the fantastic picket spire put atop it would make it a surprise of medieval England. It is unsurprisingly the tallest in the country and a extraordinary survival, it has dropped the statuettes that as soon as loaded its niches (a few far more recent replacements adorn it here and there) but is nevertheless topped by the impression of the pelican in piety. One has to ponder it awhile, it dominates the narrow house of the nave like no other and is a masterpiece of medieval woodwork (to increase the include the reduced part is designed to move separately and ‘telescopically’ to include that above, fairly than increase the full spire of wood).
There is extra to see right here beside the font of system, but that is the feature that steals the demonstrate right here. Over it the medieval roof adorned with angels, unfortunately not the authentic figures which have been final to Protestant iconoclast, the existing pair of angels and winged cherubic heads being early 20th century. The wonderful woodwork of the nave pews would be truly worth a visit in their have proper anywhere else with a remarkable selection of figures adorning them which reward exploration and review. The chancel over and above also has a great roof, this time adorned with painted shields depicting symbols of the Passion, and the glass in the east window seems previous, even though be aware that most of this is quite intelligent early 20th century imitation.
Ufford church is a single of the highlights of this element of Suffolk and should not be skipped. It is happily kept open up and welcoming on equally situations I visited, and ordinarily ought to be outside covid-influenced periods.
For a lot more on this gem of a church see its entry on the Suffolk Churches web page below:-
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/Ufford.htm
Posted by Aidan McRae Thomson on 2021-03-12 00:07:21
Tagged: , Ufford , church , Suffolk , bench conclude , wooden carving , medieval
#household furniture #Do-it-yourself #woodwork #woodworking #freedownload#woodworkingprojects #woodsmith ,wooden craft, wooden planer, good woodworking, picket chairs, wood doing the job tools, common woodworking, woodworking publications, woodworking workbench strategies