Raydon

St Mary, Raydon

If you spend as much time as I do trawling around grand Suffolk Perpendicular, the little jewels of the Decorated period stand out as being of more than usual interest. And there is more to their difference than simple architecture. It seems to have an effect upon their nature of their use. Perpendicular lends itself to neatness and order; there's something about those big windows that makes people want to tidy up, and polish the woodwork.

The grand decorated east end of St Mary.

Not that Decorated buildings are necessarily untidy, of course, its just that they seem so much less sterile, and more in touch with their ancient roots. Raydon, like far off Cotton and the chancel of the nearby otherwise over-restored Washbrook, is a perfect example of this.

Looking east into the open space of the chancel.

The tower collapsed in the 17th century, probably during the Commonwealth, and possibly during the great storm of September 1658, when a couple of other Suffolk steeples came down. It has been replaced by a little bell turret, but apart from this the church is all of an early 13th century piece, its collection of Decorated windows second only to Cotton, I think, in all Suffolk.

Like Cotton, Raydon has not been touched up too much. The Victorians reset the glorious piscinas and window stonework in their original places. This is especially important here, for, as the church guide records, a book of hours in the University Library at Cambridge was originally prepared for Alice de Reydon, daughter of the Lord of the manor here in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

The illustations, incredibly, are set in frames that echo the contemporary tracery in the windows and piscinas here.

Further, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a pyx that came from this church, and was handed down by the Reydon family, who had it in their possession as recently as 1950. It is made of silver, as many such were; most often, they were melted down by the Anglican reformers of the late 1540s, their value accruing to the Crown. This pyx also echoes the windows of the church, and carries a representation of the Blessed Virgin and child.

Incidentally, I think this one of the best church guides in Suffolk.

As you walk around, don't miss the dragon on the northern pinnacle of the chancel east end. The first time I visited, I did.

Stepping through the porch, we find a fine holy water stoup, and then step into a church that underwent a particularly sensitive restoration in 1883. This produced the pleasant furnishings and floors, but notably and mercifully did not install any stained glass, so the survivals are all medieval, and the church is enfolded in white light - again, as at Cotton.

In the south side of the sanctuary, a double piscina and window with surviving medieval glass. The way they echo each other is delightful, I think.

Good 1880s furniture, and a low side window behind. The lower section once opened, to allow an updraft to the rood beam. There's another opposite.

Mortlock thought that the font also dated from this time, but this seems unlikely, I think. The rest of the work is so well done, and in keeping with the Decorated style, but this is a bog-standard font in the style of earier in the century. Indeed, the church guide is probably right in placing it as contemporary with its 18th century font cover - they look made for each other.

The piscina in the chancel is one of Suffolk's best, and there are also two rather battered brasses for two of Alice de Reydon's 15th century descendants.

Everything is pretty, and the window tracery has a delicacy about it that I'd be reluctant to touch, for fear of breaking. The chancel is uncluttered, the whole piece deceptively full of space and light.

Something as much to be admired here was a stall selling second hand books outside. Now, that's my kind of church.

St Mary, Raydon, is on the B1070 Hadleigh to Brantham road, betwen Layham and Holton. I found it open.