HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Holy Trinity Church is the parish church of the village of
Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is spli ...
in the East Suffolk district, in the county of
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, England. It is part of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
Halesworth deanery in the
Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a Church of England diocese based in Ipswich, covering Suffolk (excluding Lowestoft). The cathedral is St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and the bishop is the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is part ...
, and has been listed Grade I on the
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
since December 1966. Holy Trinity Church should not be confused with the nearby ruins of Blythburgh Priory.


History

The parish church is dedicated to the
Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...
and known as the "Cathedral of the Marshes".
Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is spli ...
was one of the earliest
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
sites in
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
. There was a church there in 654 to which the bodies of the East Anglian king
Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...
and his son
Jurmin Jurmin (died 654) also known as Hiurmine of Blythburgh, was an Anglo-Saxon prince who was the son and heir of Anna of East Anglia, a 7th-century king of Kingdom of East Anglia, East Anglia, a kingdom which today includes the English counties of ...
, descendants of King Wehha, were brought after their deaths in battle at Bulcamp with the Mercian King Penda. At the time of 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 Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
in 1066, Blythburgh was part of the royal estate and had one of the richest churches in
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, possibly a
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
minster, with two daughter churches. It was probably the rich parent church that was granted by king
Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...
to Augustinian canons sometime between 1116 and 1147, becoming the priory of the
Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. A daughter church is likely to have been the predecessor of Holy Trinity. It was rebuilt in the 15th century. In the movement to dissolve the monasteries, the suppression of Blythburgh Priory (which had its own conventual church) was authorised in 1528 and it was dissolved in 1537, the reversion of the property being granted to local gentleman Sir Arthur Hopton in 1548. The church underwent a series of disasters, both man-made and natural. The most dramatic of the latter variety came on Sunday 4 August 1577, when a storm hit the area, and during morning service lightning hit the church, "cleft the door, and returning to the steeple rent the timber, ndbrake the chimes". The falling spire damaged the font and the roof, which was not repaired until 1782, destroying the angels in the west end bays. The door shows marks, which have the appearance of burns caused by candle flames. They have been associated with the "
Black Shuck In English folklore, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly Black dog (ghost), black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia, one of many such black dogs recorded in folklore ...
" legend, and this has been used as a title of a song by the
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
rock group The Darkness, which mentions Blythburgh in the lyrics. During the 17th century Holy Trinity was badly damaged when
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
set out to remove what the
Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
deemed to be "superstitious ornamentation" from churches; Blythburgh was assigned to
William Dowsing William Dowsing (1596–1668), also known as "Smasher Dowsing", was an English puritan, and a particularly notable iconoclast at the time of the English Civil War.G. Goodwin, 'Dowsing, William (?1596-?1679), iconoclast', ''Dictionary of National ...
, a local Puritan, and on 8 April 1644 he went to the church and ordered the removal of "twenty superstitious pictures, one on the outside of the church; two crosses, one on the porch and another on the
steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...
; and twenty
cherubim A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden o ...
to be taken down in the church and chancel... and gave order to take down above 200 more within eight days". General neglect also played its part in the church's deterioration, resulting in part from rural poverty, and in part from the rise of
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
 – a Primitive Methodist chapel was founded in the village in the 1830s. By the late 19th century, the church was in a very poor state of repair, and in 1881 a restoration fund made possible the repair of the church, and then its maintenance after its reopening in 1884. The restoration was controversial with
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
and his
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...
opposed to the radical plans of the local building committee. Shortage of funds restricted the work that could be done. While the fabric was repaired, modern taste ruled out any return to the 15th-century colour scheme of the church; the thirty-six angels, set back to back in pairs on the arch-braced, firred, tie-beam roof had been brightly painted in red and green with much use made of
tin foil Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil made of tin. Tin foil was superseded after World War II by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil, which is still referred to as "tin foil" in many regions (an example of a misnomer). History ...
and
gold leaf upA gold nugget of 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter (bottom) can be expanded through hammering into a gold foil of about 0.5 m2 (5.4 sq ft). The Japan.html" ;"title="Toi gold mine museum, Japan">Toi gold mine museum, Japan. Gold leaf is gold that has ...
. A modern reproduction is mounted above the south door. The church has a two-manual
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
by the company Bishop and Son, dating from 1951, which was almost completely rebuilt in 2003 by Rodney Briscoe. A specification of the organ can be found on the
National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...
. In 1962 the acoustic value of the building was discovered by
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
, and some of the concerts of the
Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...
have been performed in the church. The church was the location of a 2011
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for ''Sempiterna'' by
Libera Libera may refer to: * Libera (mythology), a Roman goddess of fertility * Libera (choir), a boy vocal group from London * ''Libera'' (film), a 1993 comedy film * "Libera" (song), a song by Italian artist Mia Martini * ''Libera'' (gastropod), a ...
. There is a single
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
grave in the churchyard, that of a British sailor of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; Leading Cook Reginald George Arthur Remblance, of the
Royal Naval Patrol Service The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a branch of the Royal Navy active during both the First and Second World Wars. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to prot ...
's H.M.S. Ben Roy, who died in October 1944 at the age of 31.


Parish status

The Parish of Blythburgh is part of the Sole Bay Team Ministry, along with the Parishes of: *St Margaret of Antioch's Church,
Reydon Reydon is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish, north-west of Southwold and south-east of Wangford, in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district and the ceremonial county of Suffolk, England. Its population of 2,567 ...
*St Andrew's Church,
Sotherton Sotherton is a dispersed village and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately south of Beccles and north-east of Halesworth. The A145 road passes throug ...
*St Lawrence Church, South Cove * St Edmund's Church, Southwold *St Mary's Church,
Uggeshall Uggeshall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, located approximately 6 miles (10 km) south of Beccles and 4 miles (6km) north east of Halesworth close to the A145. The mid-2005 pop ...
* St Andrew's Church, Walberswick *St Peter and St Paul's Church,
Wangford Wangford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wangford with Henham, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, just off the A12 trunk road on the edge of the Henham Park estate just outside Southw ...


Jack o' the Clock

The church is noted as having a
jack o' the clock Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...
, dated 1682. In 1840 this was standing on a ladder in the tower arch and it chimed the hours. Beneath it was this inscription : "As the hours pass away, So doth the life of man decay."The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist,: A Quarterly Journal and Review... Llewellyn Frederick William Jewitt,
John Charles Cox John Charles Cox (1843 – 23 February 1919; published under the name J. Charles Cox) was an English cleric, activist and local historian. Life He was born in Parwich, Derbyshire, the son of Edward Cox, vicar of Luccombe, Somerset, and was educa ...
,
John Romilly Allen John Romilly Allen FSA FSAScot (9 June 1847 – 5 July 1907) was a British archaeologist. Life Allen was the son of George Baugh Allen. He was educated at King's College School, Rugby and King's College London. In 1867 he was articled to Geo ...
. J. R. Smith, 1906.
The Jack now stands on a shelf near the organ and is rung to signal the start of services.


Gallery

File:Blythburgh Madonna Child.jpg, Madonna and Child by
Peter Eugene Ball Peter Eugene Ball (19 March 1943) is an English sculptor. He is best known for his religious work which can be seen in churches and cathedrals throughout Britain. He also produces secular sculpture using predominantly driftwood and found obje ...
(1997) File:Holy Trinity, Blythburgh - geograph.org.uk - 1747028.jpg, Clock jack of 1682 File:The organ, Holy Trinity Blythburgh.jpg, The organ, Holy Trinity Blythburgh File:Font Holy Trinity Blythburgh.jpg, The Seven Sacrament font, which had its ornamentation destroyed by the Puritans. File:Hopton Chapel Blythburgh.jpg, The Hopton Chapel File:Main Altar Blythburgh.jpg, The altar in the chancel File:Blythburgh Sloth.jpg, A poppy head pew end depicting Sloth File:Blythburgh Gluttony.jpg, Poppy head depicting Gluttony File:Blythburgh Slander.jpg, Poppy head depicting Slander File:Blythburgh Summer.jpg, Poppy head depicting Summer


Notable burials

* Artist
John Seymour Lucas John Seymour Lucas (21 December 1849 – 8 May 1923) was a Victorian English historical and portrait painter, as well as an accomplished theatrical costume designer. He was born into an artistic London family (he was the nephew of the painter ...
RA (1849-1923) is buried in the churchyard


References

*Alan Mackley, ed. ''The Restoration of Blythburgh Church, 1881-1906. The Dispute between the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Blythburgh Church Restoration Committee'' Boydell, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blythburgh 15th-century church buildings in England
Holy Trinity Church Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
Church of England church buildings in Suffolk Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Grade I listed churches in Suffolk Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England