Hinderclay

St Mary, Hinderclay

My saintly and long-suffering family had dropped me off near Centreparcs in the Thetford forest early that morning, in order that they might spend their day toiling and weeping beside the vast swimming pool there, with its bars, restaurants and modern leisure facilities. I'd have been quite interested to see the inter-denominational Emmanuel Chapel on the site, but I'm not a great one for lying around. Instead, I cut a swathe across the north of the county, along the hideous A11 through Elveden, and then the Grafton estate, through Barnham, Euston and Fakenham.

Let us be frank: this is not great cycling country. The roads are busy, flat and dull, the villages undistinguished. At Euston, there is a brief vision of horsey poshness, something I am unused to in my relatively democratic part of East Suffolk. And then, beyond Barningham, the countryside opens up, rolling gently, and bubbling with woods and meadows. This is the Suffolk I know best, and love to cycle through; villages hidden as surprises, church towers peeping over distant hedgerows. It was good to be back.

I passed through tiny villages, miles off the main drag; Coney Weston and Market Weston, Knettishall and Thelnetham. Who outside of Suffolk has visited these places, or even heard of them? Indeed, who inside? I tried their names out on friends in Ipswich, none of whom could place any of them. One person knew that Knettishall had been a World War II airfield, that's all.

A glorious sight near Thelnetham is the grand sail-mill, working this day, her great sails at a crazy angle, turning impossibly across the field. An 18th century Suffolker dropped back into the modern landscape would probably find this the biggest change, that nearly all these graceful giants have disappeared.

And here, the road rolls down into Hinderclay. It was early afternoon by the time I got to this village, which holds a special interest for me. It is one of a handful of Suffolk parishes I know of that has a recorded Knott family, living here in the 17th and 18th centuries. There are Knott graves in the churchyard, a quiet little place overlooked by a massive and incongruous grain silo, as at Icklingham St James.

The tower is pretty and perpendicular, with little chequerboard patterns set into the bell windows. The letters SSRM in the battlements probably stand for Salve Sancta Regina Maria, which the Catholics amongst you will instantly recognise as the opening words of the Hail Holy Queen.

This suggests that the medieval dedication of this church was to The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This was the most common medieval Suffolk church dedication, and has been restored correctly in several places, Ufford for instance. The tower appears off-centre, because the south aisle hides the unclerestoried nave.

Hinderclay's rustic little south porch.

Stepping into this building is a delightful surprise. It is full of coloured light. This comes from the modern glass in the south aisle windows. I was here on a rather overcast August day, and it was still glorious. I must return in sunshine. The windows, mainly from the 1980s, show stories from the Old and New Testaments, as well as representations of quotes from St John's Gospel. They are by Rosemary Rutherford, and should be seen by everyone. More of her excellent work is at Boxford.

Beyond the low arcades, Rosemary Robinson's windows fill the south aisle with coloured light.

The benches date from the early 17th century, when Anglican divines were trying to fill their churches with beauty again. Their hopes, of course, would be dashed by the rise to power of the Puritans. These bear the date 1617, and several sets of initials, probably those of churchwardens. I was interested to see that one set was SK, my own initials. It wasn't until after my visit that a researcher, seeing my name in the visitors' book, wrote to me and told me that they were probably the initials of a member of the Knott family.

There is a comprehensive record of the Guild here, dedicated to St Peter. The alcove in the north aisle probably marks the site of their chantry altar, although there is a large opening from the south aisle chapel, like the ones at Gedding only oriented north-south, which suggests that there was an altar here, too.

Hinderclay is perhaps most famous for its gotch, a large, leather beer pitcher used by the bellringers. It has a dedicatory inscription, and the date 25 March 1724, which was New Year's Day that year (and the the feast of the Annunciation, although this wouldn't have been celebrated in those protestant times). It also says From London I was sent, As plainly does appear, It was with this intent, To be fild with strong beer, Pray remember the pitcher when empty. You can see it at the Moyse Hall museum in Bury St Edmunds. In fact, I knew it well, being a regular visitor there, and it was good to place it in its proper context at last. I wondered if any of my ancestors had drunk from it.

Outside again, the day was becoming heavy and muggy, if the weather might finally break. But I headed on, exploring Botesdale and Rickinghalls Superior and Inferior, before setting a course for Stowmarket, Needham Market, and then home.

St Mary, Hinderclay, is located just north of Rickinghall on the A143 Bury to Diss road. I found it open. See MAP