St Edmund's Church, Southwold
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St Edmund's Church, Southwold is a
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
parish church in the Church of England in Southwold,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
.


History

The parish church of Southwold is dedicated to
St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to: * Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings * Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...
, and is considered to be one of Suffolk's finest. It lies under one continuous roof, and was built over about 60 years from the 1430s to the 1490s; it replaced a smaller 13th-century church that was destroyed by fire. The earlier church dated from the time when Southwold was a small fishing hamlet adjacent to the larger Reydon. By the 15th century Southwold was an important town in its own right, and the church was rebuilt to match its power and wealth. The church is renowned for its East Anglian
flushwork In architecture, flushwork is decorative masonry work which combines on the same flat plane flint and ashlar stone. If the stone projects from a flat flint wall then the term is proudwork, as the stone stands "proud" rather than being "flush" wi ...
, especially that of the tower. Knapped and unknapped flints are arranged in patterns, textures and designs and create the stone work. The curving letters over the west window are most famous: ''SCT. EDMUND ORA P. NOBIS'' (St Edmund pray for us). Each letter is crowned, and set in knapped flints. Originally roofed in lead, from 1948 to 2015 the church had a copper clad roof with an easily recognisable flèche (or spirelet), above a
clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
of eighteen windows. The flèche was purely for display, and has never contained a bell. The tower has no parapet and is a very fine piece of architecture, with its large bell openings. The roof of the nave is so high that it makes the tower seem shorter than it really is; but it is 96 feet (29 metres) high. All of the church's medieval glass was destroyed by William Dowsing in 1644; the only stained glass windows in the church are the east windows over the altar (1954, by Sir
Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...
) and the west window below the grand tower. In World War II the church was narrowly missed by a German bomb that destroyed houses in the nearby Hollyhock Square. The bomb did not do much damage to the building itself but blew out most of the windows - another reason why the church has very little stained glass. The church was tidied very quickly for the funerals, a short while later, of the people killed by the bomb. In the interior, the rood screen is considered by many to be the finest in the county. It stretches all the way across the church, and is made up of three separate screens: a rood screen across the chancel arch and parclose screens across the north and south chancel aisles. A 15th century clock jack stands at the west end. He has an axe and bell which he uses to strike the time, and has a twin at Blythburgh. The Southwold jack is named "Southwold Jack", and is one of the symbols of the
Adnams brewery Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels. In 2010, the company established the Copper House d ...
. The font has been badly mutilated but is still very impressive with its large ornate cover. The roof in the chancel is painted and its height gives the church a very open feeling. Present-day church community life is extremely diverse and makes good use of St Edmund's Hall (also destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt) to the rear of the church.


Restorations

The roofs were restored in 1857 by Edward Lushington Blackburne and in 1866-1867 by
Richard Phipson Richard Makilwaine Phipson (1827–1884)Wilson p. 158. was an English architect. As diocesan architect for the Anglican Diocese of Norwich, he was responsible for renovating almost 100 churches in East Anglia. Biography Phipson was born in Ipswi ...
. The chancel was restored in 1885. Following bomb damage to the lead roof during the Second World War, it was entirely replaced with copper in 1948. This covering degraded over time, partly due to the church's seaside environment, and it was decided in 2013 to reroof the entire church, including replacing the flèche, in lead. The work began at the start of 2015, with completion later in that year. The flagpole atop the tower was previously surmounted by a golden weathervane in the form of a sailing longshore fishing vessel, but the pole has since been replaced and the weathervane removed.


Bells

Southwold tower contains a
ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
of eight bells hung for
change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...
. The tower held five bells in 1553. Over the years these bells have been recast and others added to create the current eight. The current fourth and fifth are probable recasts of the originals, having been cast in 1668 by John Darbie of Ipswich. The third dates from 1820 and is by William Dobson of Downham Market. In 1828 one bell was recast and a further two added. The bell that was recast is the present tenor, also by William Dobson. The sixth and seventh were added and are likely to originate from
All Saints, South Elmham All Saints' South Elmham is a village and former civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. The parish was combined with St Nicholas South Elmham in 1737 to form the parish of All Saints and St. Nicholas, South Elmham. It is s ...
. Both are medieval bells, the sixth being cast around 1538 by William Barker and the seventh by Brasyers of Norwich around 1513. The two trebles date from 1881 and are by Moore, Holmes & Mackenzie of Redenhall, Norfolk.Taken fro
Doves Guide
27 January 2009.
However, a peal of Oxford Treble Bob Major was rung on 26 July 1858, indicating that the tower possessed a ring of eight prior to 1881.Taken fro
Felstead Database
5 September 2011.
The tenor (the largest) weighs 10¾ cwt or about 546 kg, and the treble (the lightest) about half of that. The bells hang in a timber frame installed in 1897 by George Day & Son of Eye, Suffolk. In 1990 the bells were rehung on new fittings and the frame strengthened by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. There is a large amount of space surrounding the frame, allowing ease of access and maintenance. The clock uses the seventh bell to strike the hours. There are no bells in the tower other than the ringing peal. The bells are rung from a ringing chamber some 52 steps up the tower. The chamber has many mementos of past campanological achievements. The tower is affiliated to the
Suffolk Guild of Ringers The Suffolk Guild of Ringers for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a society and charity supporting the bell ringers and rings of bells in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich who practice the art of change ringing. The Guild wa ...
. The bells are rung regularly for Sunday services, weddings and other special occasions.


Organ

The church has a three manual pipe organ, originally built by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1887 and later rebuilt by the
Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level (whe ...
firm
Cedric Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt Cedric Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt (sometimes referred to as Arnold, Williamson & Hyatt) was an English pipe organ maker and refurbisher in Thaxted, Essex formed in 1961 by the merger of the organ building and restoring practices of Cedric Arno ...
in 1966. The specification, drawn up by Sir
Frederick Ouseley Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, 2nd Baronet (12 August 18256 April 1889) was an English composer, organist, musicologist and priest. Biography Frederick Ouseley was born in London, the son of Sir Gore Ouseley, and manifested an extraordinary ...
, a Professor of Music at Oxford University, may be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.


Parish status

The church is within the Sole Bay Team of Churches with the following churches:Taken fro
The Sole Bay Team Ministry
27 January 2009.
Taken fro

27 January 2009.
Taken from "A photographic and historical guide to the Parish Churches of East Suffolk" compiled by Adrian S. Pye. 27 January 2009. P. 241. * Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh * St Margaret of Antioch's Church, Reydon * St Andrew's Church, Sotherton * St Lawrence's Church, South Cove * St Mary's Church, Uggeshall *
St Andrew's Church, Walberswick St Andrew's Church is a Grade I listed building in Walberswick, Suffolk.''The Buildings of England: Suffolk''. Nikolaus Pevsner. It is an active parish church in the Church of England. History The church has a fine 15th-century tower. The buil ...
* St Peter & St Paul's Church, Wangford


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwold Church of England church buildings in Suffolk Grade I listed churches in Suffolk Southwold English churches dedicated to St Edmund