The Church of St Bartholomew is the parish church of the town of
Orford,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. A medieval church, dating from the fourteenth century, with reconstructions in the nineteenth and twentieth century, it 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 Ire ...
building.
In addition to its listing, the church is notable as the location for the first performances of four of the works of the composer
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''
Noye's Fludde'', ''
Curlew River'', ''
The Burning Fiery Furnace'' and ''
The Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a parable of Jesus from the Bible.
The Prodigal Son or Prodigal Son may also refer to:
Film
* ''L'Enfant prodigue'' (1907 film) (The Prodigal Son), by Michel Carré, based on his play
* , a short silent film b ...
''.
History and description
The church comprises a ruined 12th century chancel, begun in about 1166
and abandoned in the 18th century,
[''The Buildings of England - Suffolk:East'', pages 446–9] the
Decorated nave and aisles, restored in the late 19th century, and the tower, restored in the late 20th century after the collapse of its upper storey in 1830.
The chancel to the original church was built at about the same time as
Orford Castle,
and demonstrates a similar "grandeur".
By the eighteenth century, the chancel was completely ruined and reconstruction concentrated on the nave and the tower.
In the early 1880s
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...
prepared a plan for a comprehensive restoration of the whole complex but this was not undertaken.
Instead, rebuilding work spanned almost a hundred years, with
J T Micklethwaite undertaking the reconstruction of the nave and aisles between 1894 and 1900,
H M Cautley repairing the chancel in 1930,
and Bruce George restoring the tower in 1971–72.
Interior
The font is 15th-century, with "four lions and four wild men" surrounding its base.
Above the main altar is a painting of the Holy Family with St. John the Baptist and donor by Bernardino Luini. It was a processional banner painted to commemorate an event at Milan Cathedral in 1525. The Nativity, with the Angel appearing to the Shepherds by Raffaelino del Colle hangs over the Altar in the St. Nicholas Chapel.
The church contains an impressive selection of memorials and monuments, including one to Benjamin Britten, a green slate slab set in the floor of the nave.
wild men
The wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose is a mythical figure that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to '' Silvanus'', the Roman god of the woodl ...
'
Organ
The organ was destroyed when the tower collapsed in 1830. In time, a temporary replacement was installed. That temporary organ remained in use in the early 21st century. In 2017 the church was offered the redundant
Collins from the
Turner Sims Concert Hall as a gift. Despite opposition from the Diocesan Advisory Committee, a
Faculty
Faculty may refer to:
* Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage)
* Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States)
* Faculty (instrument)
A faculty is a legal in ...
was issued in 2018, and the organ installed the following year by Cousans.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orford, Saint Bartholomew
Church of England church buildings in Suffolk
Grade I listed churches in Suffolk
14th-century church buildings in England
Saint Bartholomew
Saint Bartholomew