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Knowing, as you might, that Melton is
an industrial suburb of Woodbridge, you will perhaps
expect an urban setting, and a church greatly enlarged by
the Victorians. But this is entirely not the case.
Instead, you leave the village on the road to Wickham Market, and take the turning down into Ufford, and the river valley.
Golden
winter sunlight enfolds the tower of old St
Andrew. As you can see, there isn't a lot else to
it.
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After travelling through
woodland and meadows for a mile or so, and
shortly before you reach that pretty village, you
come across the old church of St Andrew, sitting
in a wide, open graveyard. Here are graves in abundance, and modern
ones too, for all Melton still comes here to be
buried; but St Andrew is tiny, and you will be
further surprised to learn that it has not been
used as a parish church for more than a century.
When the railways reached
Melton so did the jobs, and the village expanded
rapidly. Rather than spend a fortune on a
necessary expansion of their remote church, the
Victorians did a thing which was unusual in
Suffolk; they built a completely new one, up in the main village.
New St
Andrew (confusingly,
the dedications are the same) is much larger, but
its site did not allow room for burials.
So, this old church remained in
use as a mortuary chapel, until well into the
1970s. To make it more suitable for its new role,
the Victorians demolished the chancel, replacing
it with an apse. They blocked up the north and
south doors, opening up the west door to allow
funeral biers access.
After being officially declared
redundant in 1977, all sorts of new uses were
suggested. Planning permission was granted for
its conversion into a study centre, with the
installation of a mezzanine floor and roof
windows.
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This would, I have no doubt, have been
a sensible use; but there are more important things than
pragmatism - loyalty and love, for instance. The people
of Melton did not want to lose their church. And so, in
1982, they bought it off the church commissioners for
several thousand pounds. Today, they maintain it as a
charitable trust.
The south side of
the former nave. The door has been blocked, and the
chancel demolished.
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sadly, but is often opened, for the Melton Old
Church Society hold regular events here. In
addition, Evensong is celebrated on All Souls
Day, appropriately enough for a former mortuary
chapel, and there is an annual carol service. You step inside, and your first sight is
of an array of World War I crosses. There are
seven of them. These were returned to England
along with the remains of the victims of that
terrible slaughter.
Ordinarily, the crosses were
destroyed when replaced by a more permanent and
fitting memorial. You often come across
individual survivals in Suffolk, but no other
church has a collection so big.
From
fields of Flanders.
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The 19th
century apse, and 1990s kitchen to the right.
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A fine 19th century reredos sits in the apse.
It has recently been restored. Cunningly hidden behind it
is a doorway into the kitchen added by the Society in
recent years, to give this remote place running water for
functions. There is also a lavatory.
The modern east
end. The apse behind is wherethe chancel arch formerly
was. The splendid reredos hides the doorway into the
kitchen.
On the north side of the nave is a
stunning brass, featuring a Priest, and what appears to
be his parents. The inscriptions and heraldry are
completely destroyed, as is much of the decoration,
although this is as likely to be the work of 18th and
19th century collectors, vandals and thieves as anything
to do with 16th and 17th century iconoclasm.
We don't know who
they were. But they've survived.
Gone, but
not forgotten - the seven sacraments, now at the
new church, two miles away.
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The feature that made this
church most remarkable is no longer here, either.
This is one of Suffolk's 13 seven sacrament
fonts, one of only ten to retain its imagery. Uniquely, it features the martyrdom of
St Andrew as its eighth panel. You can still see
it - but you will need to travel to the otherwise
unremarkable new church in
the village, some two miles away.
Before you turn back, though,
don't forget that half a mile in the other
direction is the beautiful church of the Assumption,
Ufford, with all its
famous treasures.
It goes without saying that the
Melton Old Church Society is to be thoroughly
congratulated for the care and affection they
lavish on this little place. Membership of the
Melton Old Church Society is a bargain, at a mere
£5. How can you resist having a stake in such a
splendid venture?
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Last
Rites
click
image to see larger version
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Ordination
click
image to see larger version
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Old St Andrew is
along the road between Melton and lower Ufford, nearer to
the latter than the former. It is kept locked, but opened
for Melton Old Church Society events. For a list of
these, and membership details, contact Secretary Miss B
Bloss, "Spinneys", Saddlemakers Lane, Melton,
Woodbridge IP12 1PP.
My thanks to Sarah
Latimer for her help with this entry.
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