St. Peter’s Church in Thurston, Suffolk is a Victorian-era church that was built as a replacement for the original church that was destroyed in a dramatic incident in 1860. John Hakewill was the lesser-known younger brother of the architect Edward Hakewill who extensively worked on construction projects in Suffolk in the 1860s. John Hakewill was tasked with rebuilding St. Peter’s Church in Thurston after the original church was destroyed when its tower collapsed on the night of Sunday March 18th, 1860. A decision was made to rebuild from scratch, accommodating the new church to the surviving chancel and porch. John Hakewill replaced the inferior architecture in the old structure with the much-preferred Decorated style, which was immensely popular at the time.
St. Peter’s Church in Thurston was reopened barely 18 months later after the tower collapsed at a cost of about £3,500 or three quarters of a million in today’s money. The exterior of the church is impressive, with an imposing tower that remains to this day. The interior is wholly 19th Century, with earlier survivals such as the Perpendicular font which has foliage panels that conceal a number of green man depictions. Other medieval relics include collected fragments of stained-glass windows, including a series of striking heads and the figures of a cherubim, a pope, and a bishop. There are also delightful little figures in the spandrels of the 15th Century stalls that survived the fall of the tower.
A set of royal arms to Queen Elizabeth II, dated to 1977, was installed in the church along with woodwork in the nave that is of decent quality. However, the reredos in the chancel is rather finer and was the work of Father Ernest Geldart, the Anglo-Catholic carpenter-priest. The Greene family, who are commemorated at Thurston, paid for the restoration of the chancel. Sir Walter Greene, a member of the Greene family, is depicted in the memorial windows created by the stained glass firm Ward & Hughes. The windows spanned over thirty years from 1890 to 1920 and are considered to be exceptionally spectacular.
In addition to the stunning memorials and preserved medieval artefacts, St. Peter’s Church in Thurston also boasts a couple of delightful medieval benches at the west end of the south aisle, both of which also have green men on them. The church is now open to visitors every day, with signs in the porch warning visitors not to lock the door upon leaving.
Posted by Simon Knott on 2018-02-06 16:58:06