Monday, 20 August 2012

Monks Eleigh, Suffolk

I'm in two minds about St Peter; on the one hand it has suffered a severe Victorian restoration which has left a fairly nondescript interior whilst on the other its location, a Jacobean pulpit and a fabulous west door commend it. I think I'll give it a B+.

ST PETER. A big church. Big Perp W tower with flushwork decoration. Stair-turret on the S side not at the angle. Set-back buttresses continued near the top in polygonal shafts which end in the pinnacles. W doorway with fleuron decoration and hood-mould on two big heads. Niches l. and r. Nave and aisles and clerestory. N and S porches. The chancel is of 1845 . Interior with arcades differing on the N from the S. S arcade with concave-sided octagonal piers (dated C14 by Cautley). N piers normal octagonal. On the S side double-chamfered arches, on the N one chamfer and one sunk quadrant moulding. Ceilure at the E end of the nave roof. - FONT. An odd form, dated C13 by Cautley, and an odd C17-looking cartouche. - PULPIT. With Perp traceried panels. - SOUTH DOOR with tracery. - ALMS BOX. Plain square pillar with the date 1636.

West door

Pulipt

Glass (1)

MONKS ELEIGH. Its church stands high above the green, with splendid vistas of the countryside round Lavenham. It has a grand 15th century tower with flint and stone panelling, and a doorway with niches and carvings of Bowers and quaint crawling figures. The turret soars just above the battlements with a clock bell hanging above it facing all the winds that blow. There is a square 13th century font with an ancient cover like a leafy spire, an Elizabethan chalice, and a Jacobean almsbox on a pillar. But the treasure here is the pulpit, with panelled sides and small flowers hanging from its lovely tracery; it is 500 years old.



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