Saxtead

All Saints, Saxtead

The Western end of the nave, with its pre-Gothic revival louvred window of the early 19th century. The porch appears overlong beside this face - in fact, it isn't.

The notoriously busy A1120 bypasses Framlingham, but hurtles through the neighbouring straggle of Saxtead on its impatient journey to the coast.

Saxtead's most famous building is its post-mill, familiar to owners of Pevsner's Suffolk from the back cover; it sits on Saxtead Green about half a mile from All Saints.

The church is a far less prominent building than the mill. It lost its tower on the 8th July 1805, one of several in the county that collapsed before the Victorians had a chance to restore them. One wonders what the Suffolk landscape would be like today if the Oxford Movement had never happened.

The surviving little structure with its odd western face is constrained within and hidden by a tight churchyard full of mature trees, which look very beautiful, but make photographing the exterior difficult. You could easily drive past without noticing it.

The porch is a typical 15th century Suffolk job, all flushwork and niches. The church it stands against is much older, and we still see it largely in its 13th and 14th century form.

All inside is neat and clean; apart from the 17th century holy table and communion rails, the furnishings are all 19th century and later. But the benches retain some medieval ends; these are very vandalised, but retain traces of some figures.

Mortlock thought that they were done by the same carver as those at neighbouring Tannington - indeed, they may even have come from the same church.

A curious square window beside the lower door to the rood loft stair was probably created when the stairway was removed.

All Saints featured rather prominently in the local press recently for an action bordering on incompetence; an old cupboard that had been cluttering up the church was thrown out. Unfortunately, it had been made out of pieces of the old rood screen; it recently changed hands at auction for a four figure sum.

One of the most interesting features of the church is the set of stocks and whipping post in the porch. Similar survivals can be seen at South Elmham St Margaret (also in the porch), Athelington (locked away)and Ufford (by the gate).

I think this set is the best of all, though. They bear a warning to 'Fear God and Honour the King' - none of this wishy-washy 'God is Love' nonsense in the 18th century Church of England.

The stocks are claimed to come from the village originally, although whether or not this is true I don't know. One is, perhaps, inclined to doubt the provenance of artefacts in a parish that was unable to keep track of its own rood screen.

All Saints Church, Saxtead, is located on the A1120 just to the west of Framlingham. I found it locked, with a listed keyholder nearby.

Suffolk's best surviving set of village stocks and whipping post.