Cavenham, Suffolk

St Andrew, locked, keyholder listed [but with the proviso that they live in Mildenhall, so effectively locked no keyholder], is, it seems to me, on its last legs - no incumbent, no one caring enough to keep it open and, seemingly, no one looking after the churchyard, which is a pity since this is a fine building in a great location, if you ignore the industrialised farmyard behind it. Judging from Pevsner I didn't miss much but it's the principle, if the CoE can't keep their churches open due to dwindling/ageing congregations an alternative solution must be found.

ST ANDREW. Small. Unbuttressed W tower formerly with a two-storey erection in front (cf. Ely, Debenham). C13 chancel, but with a good Dec PISCINA in the angle of the SE window. Angle shafts and crocketed gable. The nave windows minor Dec. - SCREEN. Humble, with one-light divisions, the entrance arch repaired c. 1600. - (PAINTING, subject unknown, discovered on the N wall in 1967. C. R. Paine) - PLATE. Cup of 1830.

CAVENHAM. The quaintest things we remember of it are the wooden shutters to the windows of the tower of its 13th century church. The door of the old porch has ancient ironwork and a very curious handle, and stone seats for the priests with a pinnacled canopy of fine 14th century workmanship. The chancel arch is 14th century. A window near the priest’s doorway has old glass enriched with a yellow border and a prayer that we should pray for Adam the vicar. The peace memorial window has a figure of St George, the font is massive and old, and there are a few fragments of the old screen in the new one. We found here, still working on a farm, a man who had received a bronze medal for 61 years of service to his master.