I have just noticed that this will be my 1,000th post, so I will celebrate it by posting another Suffolk church. This time the church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Lavenham.
The late 15th-century rebuilding of most of Lavenham was undertaken by the de Veres at the head of a consortium of local families. The building commission was to celebrate the Tudor triumph at Bosworth, in which the de Veres played a part. The town contribution came chiefly from the Spryngs, wealthy clothiers whose arms, with those of the de Veres, are ubiquitous in the church. The alliance was later cemented when a Spryng married a de Vere, new money marrying old. The tower was begun at once in 1486, the year after Bosworth, and building continued through to the 1520S, by when both the Spryng and the de Vere who had begun the project had died. The Reformation brought work to a halt, with the chancel not yet rebuilt.
The tower dominates the overall composition and is almost as high as the nave is long.
Its pinnacles were never added. De Vere's porch is a superb example of early Tudor patronage: the doorway is crowned with the boars of the de Veres, a rebus from the Latin verres, a boar. It has been whitewashed, which seems oddly garish against the soft flint walls of nave and tower. Its niche contains modern statues of St Peter and St Paul.
(Simon Jenkins: England's Thousand Best Churches)
Yes, that’s Anthea on a pew
14th century Purbeck marble font which probably belonged to the earlier church.
This is one of the several misericords that I photographed.
I hope you enjoyed your visit.
Eric H
