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The extraordinary tower arch.
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Before
going in, however, walk around to the west side
of the tower for a rather startling surprise. A
great archway is cut in the wall, towering about
thirty feet above the ground and enclosed by a
wrought iron screen. It
contains the bell-ringers' chamber, as well as a
bier, and a rather precarious ladder to the
belfry. Above the arch, three large niches may
have contained a rood group.
The
tower is a chunky 15th century affair, buttressed
only in the lower stages. large Decorated bell
windows open beneath grotesques, although it is a
shame about the louvres in them.
This
tower was built to stand against this nave; notice
the decorated west window in the interior wall of
the archway. From within the church, it appears
that there is no tower.
The
graveyard at the west end is rich with bracken,
angelica and primroses. It is very beautiful.
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Perpendicular has a way of looking younger than
it actually is. Decorated reveals its age rather
more easily, and as we return to the church and
step inside, we enter a seemingly ancient space.
The stark white walls and arcades rise up
into the shadows, surmounted by one of Suffolk's
most beautiful double-hammerbeam roofs. The
pillars in the north aisle in particular lean out
most alarmingly. The roof is a beautiful
golden oak colour. It was built in the 15th
century, at the same time as the clerestory.
Simon Cotton no relation) tells me that a Thomas
Cook, in his will of 1471, left a close called
Garlekis towards 'the reparation and edification
of the new roof of Cotton church.' And so, here
it is.
The
most easterly bay is panelled, to form a canopy
of honour to the rood. None of
the rood apparatus survives, but not only can one
see how it cut into the chancel arch, the cutting
away of tracery beneath the most easterly
clerestory windows shows where the rood loft
stood, and how big it was. The stairs come in
from the chancel, and
would have turned outside the chancel arch into
the loft. It must have been a magnificent sight
before the protestant vandals of the 1540s
destroyed it.
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Looking west, under the
magnificent roof. Note the way the pillars bow
outwards.
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The
canopy of honour, above the chancel arch.
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Above: A modern angel in the
medieval roof.
Left: the
stonework cut away in the south wall where the
rood system fitted.
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the chancel itself, a beautiful set of sedilia and piscina are
crowned with decorated canopies (the middle two
missing). The more you explore, the
more you discover, and the more you sense what a
significant building this is.
Take,
for example, the tomb recess in the north aisle.
It is now cropped by the modern pews. The church
guide (which is excellent, by the way, and a
bargain at £1) suggests that it was not an Easter
sepulchre.
And
yet, I think that it might have been, and I
remain to be convinced that only tombs in the
north wall of the chancel were used for this
purpose.
The
17th century pulpit is a
beautiful colour, unstained and golden. An
alarming creature acts as a handhold; a griffin,
perhaps.
The
font is
reddish, like that at Nettlestead, and
there are some jolly monks and priests around the
shaft; but they may have been recut.
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piscina (left) and triple sedilia.
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Left, the
font; a recut bowl on a medieval shaft, which may
also have been recut. But the fellows above seem
original.
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A
scattering of medieval glass adds a frisson of colour to
the clerestory windows. Otherwise, all is stark white and
wood. This whole building is, I think, one of the most
beautiful art objects in the county; it deserves to be so
much better known than it is.
St
Andrew, Cotton, can be found on the B1113 Stowmarket
to Rickinghall road, near Bacton. I have never found it
locked.
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