Hasketon is a village and civil parish in the

East Suffolk District East Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England, which was established on 1 April 2019, following the merger of the existing Suffolk Coastal and Waveney districts. At the 2011 census, the two districts had a combined population o ...

of Suffolk, England. Its church, St. Andrews, is one of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk. St. Andrews stands more or less at the centre of its scattered

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

, and is set in a tree-shaded churchyard which, in 1845, had been planted with beech, fir and

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

History of St Andrews Church

There has been a church at this place for more than 900 years. This ancient church contains

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workman ...

from many periods. From what can be seen and derived from what little documentary evidence is available, the history of this church is as follows: The 11th century: The earliest part of the present church is the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, where evidence of late Saxon or early

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

work in the layered

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

with which parts of the walls are faced can be found. There is also a little herring-bone masonry in the south wall, where there remains a tiny blocked window of this date. Clearly the core of the nave dates from the period just before or just after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

of 1066. The late 11th or early 12th century: A little later the

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...

was added at the west end of the

. The 13th century: The single lancet windows in the north walls of the

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

survive from this period. c.1300: The

was heightened by the addition of its octagonal belfry-stage (later restored with brick) and also received its west window. Some similar windows to those in the belfry-stage were placed in the

and

. The 14th and early 15th centuries: Several of the present windows in the

and the

date from this time; they probably replaced earlier windows like the blocked 11th century one. The north and south doorways are also of 14th century date. At the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and afterwards, the interior of the church was altered to cater for the new

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

requirements of the established church. Much of the colour and carvings went, also the stained glass and the rood with its loft and screen. The year 1844 saw the arrival of new rector Thomas Maude, and it was he who was responsible for the restoration of the church by gradual stages. The font – originally given c.1450 by members of the Brewse family, who owned the manor of Hasketon from the late 13th century until c.1489 – was cleaned and restored shortly after the arrival of Maude, and a small gallery at the west end of the nave was replaced by a carved wooden tower screen. The major restoration took place during the 1860s. In 1863, work was done on the

, the church was re-roofed, the

restored and the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

added in 1865. The

received a new set of benches in 1866, and two years later the

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

was rebuilt. In 1899, a new bell was given and three others recast. The present organ was given in 1904, the year the choir-stalls were also made. The reredos was erected in 1920. Additions of recent years include among others the interior decoration, the kneelers, the festal frontal and the list of Rectors. Today, the building is still in regular use for Christian worship. Peggy Harrison (1907-1993), the widow of Sir James

Harwood Harrison Sir James Harwood Harrison, 1st Baronet (6 June 1907 – 11 September 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Eye in Suffolk from 1951 to 1979, having first contested it ...

, 1st Baronet (1907-1980), a Conservative Party politician, is buried in the churchyard. He is buried at

Bugbrooke Bugbrooke is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Nene. Location Bugbrooke is situated about south west of Northampton and 5 miles (8 km) north of Towcester. The M1, one o ...

, Northamptonshire where his family lived for many years.

Sources

# St Andrews, Hasketon Church Guide by Roy Tricker, Gyppeswyk Print, Ipswich 2001

References

External links

Website with photos of Hasketon St Andrew
a round-tower church {{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk