St Nicholas, Small Saxham, Suffolk
Little Saxham is a handsome village, not much from the edge of the Ickworth estate. The church is set at the japanese stop of the village the place the primary road from Bury forks, agricultural motor vehicles and 4x4s thundering out of the blue about corners hid by historic yews, the watch of the church by itself spoilt somewhat by a rather exuberant use of street furnishings. And genealogists generating their way right here would be disappointed to uncover that the southern side of Very little Saxham churchyard was quite nicely cleared of all its older gravestones by lawnmower fanatics in the 1960s. A handful of of the more mature headstones have been reset in a line to the south of the nave, with some fantastic18th century kinds in close proximity to the porch. An aged photograph inside of the church shows this graveyard as it at the time was, an entrancing jumble of priceless historic memorials. Rather tricky to get a lawnmower amongst, having said that, and so they are now long gone.
But the broad expanse of grass does, at the very least, offset Suffolk’s best round tower, and perhaps England’s. There are historic motives for other individuals being at the very least as attention-grabbing, but are any as lovely? The bell-phase is Norman, and hence specially well worth a gaze, mainly because so quite a few of Suffolk’s spherical towers had their bell stages rebuilt in afterwards generations. The Victorians did incredibly minor to it, and the outside the house physique of the church itself is however broadly as it was on the eve of the Reformation. The Lucas chapel (extra normally referred to these times as the Crofts chapel) on the north side of the chancel was developed in the 1530s, just in advance of these types of matters grew to become theologically unacceptable.
You action by means of a doorway that is broadly contemporary with the tower leading, and on your still left are two rather exceptional archways. The to start with, on your left, is a small Norman arch, approximately the exact same measurement as the doorway you have just stepped by way of, but set barely a metre and a half off of the flooring. This has been variously determined as a tomb recess, an aumbry, a harmless for valuables and a doorway into a missing chapel. None of these appear proper, and it would seem far more than most likely that it is the previous north doorway, quite possibly moved here in the 19th century, though to what goal is a thriller. Almost certainly, it was reconstructed basically to look like a tomb recess – the Victorians went in for that form of matter. It may well have been supposed to echo one thing comparable in the chancel.
Beside it is a single of the most breathtakingly pretty tower arches in Suffolk, a remarkable matter in these kinds of a compact church, properly beautiful, increasing the eye heavenwards. The doorway higher than it recalls the a single at Thorington, where the tower is also not dissimilar. Underneath the arch are panels of the rood display, lions, squirrels and eagles dealing with every other off in the spandrels.
Beside the tower arch is the parish war memorial, with a few names on it. Frederick Fisher was wounded at Ypres, and died of his wounds at household in Little Saxham in 1919. The other two on the memorial are brothers, George and William Sansom. George was killed at Neuve Chapelle in 1915, William on the Somme in 1916. The two brothers are also remembered on Frederick Fisher’s headstone outside in a gloomy corner of the churchyard.
Turning eastwards, the quantity and excellent of medieval woodwork is striking for such a humble creating. It is just not really hard to kind it out from the 19th century things, broadly talking the newer benches are on the south aspect. Of the medieval bench ends, a lady at a prayer-desk may perfectly be portion of an Annunciation, a dragon biting its tail appears to be fairly heraldic, and what is most likely a lion looks not contrary to the cock-monster at Stowlangtoft.
Mortlock considered that the entrance to the rood stairs remaining six ft off the ground instructed that it had as soon as been utilised to keep valuables. This may perhaps be so, but I imagine it is significantly extra probable that it is giving us evidence of a now-vanished wood section of the stairs that led down into the aisle, as at nearby Denston.
The chancel is at once wonderful and simple. The communion rails were rescued from the abandoned church at Tiny Livermere, and were being reset below. On the north aspect, the curious memorial with its heraldic devices is the blocked up entrance to the Lucas chapel, now the vestry. The shields arrive from the tomb of Sir Thomas Fitzlucas, which when stood inside.
The entrance to the vestry is from the east conclusion of the north aisle. It is retained locked. On the other hand, it is worth making contact with the keyholder outlined on the doorway, because, from its days as the Lucas chapel, it nevertheless has the rather impressive tomb of William, very first Baron Crofts, in all its 1670s Restoration glory.
Posted by Simon Knott on 2017-08-20 09:17:51
Tagged: , Small , Saxham , suffolk , east anglia , church , churches , nikon , d5300
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