This page describes the
history of the Parish church, St. Peter's, and has details of
it's bells and of the old Vicarage.
Source of information.
There follows the text of a leaflet by Arnold Hornsby, village
recorder.
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Henley Church
Suffolk
CRSBA:
St Peter's Henley Suffolk
Services
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http://www.acny.org.uk/7431/
This page
describes the history of the Parish church, St. Peter's, and has
details of it's bells and of the old Vicarage.
Updated
January
2008
There was a
church in Henley at the time William the Conqueror had the Domesday
Survey prepared, there were also three manors within the
village.
The body of
the present church dates from the 13th century, the porch having
been added in the 15th century and the tower in the early 16th
century(possibly 1525) when the village was known as Hendley. The
vestry on the north side of the church was added in 1838 and the
outer wall on the south of the churchyard is dated 1900.
In the last
150 years there have been major renovations in 1846, 1895 and 1904.
The church interior had been decorated in 1969 but was completely
redecorated in 1993. On the nave walls and ceiling old style lime
wash was used rather than emulsion paint. Electric lighting was
installed in 1946 and the whole building completely rewired in
1983. The roof required extensive repairs in 1959 and the nave was
retiled in 2005. when the opportunity was taken to upgrade the
lighting throughout the chuch. At the same time more modern and
efficent heating was also installed. The chancel roof was
completely retiled in November 2007 under the 'chancel tax'
legislation -
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/churchlawlegis/faq/landfaq.html
It is thought that the roof would been thatched at one time but is
known to have been tiled since 1900.
As you
approach the church the perpendicular style tower can be seen. From
the inscription above the west door asking for prayers for Thomas
Sekeford(Seckford) and his second wife Margarete it can be assumed
that it was built at his expense. The Seckford arms, a pair of
scissors or shears, appear between the letters. He died on 23rd
November 1505 and is buried at Great Bealings. The Seckford family
gave generously to the town of Woodbridge. On the left a symbol of
a key links with St. Peter. The west window was repaired in 1872
but the original shape was retained. the decorative flintwork on
the butresses of the tower is considered to be a good example of
such work. The stone and flintwork of the tower were refurbished in
1980 at a cost of £9,000. This included cleaning and repointing the
Elizabethan brickwork around the top of the tower. The flag pole
came from HMS Ganges, a naval training establishment in Shotley for
a number of years. This is surmounted by a weathervane in the form
of St. Peter's Key. Also on top of the tower is a plaque recording
the replacement of the lead on the tower in 1772. The "plummers"
bill for the work was £18 18s 9d.
The present electric clock was installed in 1973 and made to
strike the hours in 1976. For up to 300 years there was a turret
clock with a six foot pendulum which needed to be wound up
regularly. This was taken out when the electricity arrived. The
clock is now broken and unable to be repaired. Fund raising is now
in progress to install a new clock.
Between the
tower and the porch on a corner stone nine feet above ground level
can be seen an old scratch dial (or sundial); a similar one can be
found on the right of the porch
entrance.
Above the entrance to the porch, in a niche, there is a statue of
St. Peter.
This is believed to have been put there during the
renovation of 1895 as the niche was known to be empty in 1886. The
porch, built before the tower, is not of the same high standard of
workmanship.
There are indications that materials were re-used.
The carving
above the entrance to the church is Norman
but the pointed top suggests to scholars that it belonged
to a wider door and was re-used, making a more pointed
arch on the narrower door, possibly when the porch was
built.
On the left of
the door it is obvious that a carved piece of stone has been
re-used to infill the wall. On the right there
is an indication of the remains of a stoup, for worshippers
to bless themselves before entering the church
On
the left is a list of vicars since 1315, which was about the time
of the building of the present church. he wooden plaque above the
door commemorates the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.
There is a list showing the ladies and gentlemen, who made the
kneelers used in the church. The porch was renovated about 1846 and
then repaired again in 1981.
A new doorstep was installed to mark the Millenium.
The
eight-sided font was a replacement in the 1840s although it is
considered that an earlier base was re-used. In 1990 four of the
pews at the back of the church were reduced in width to give more
room to the families around the
font.
The gallery
at the west end was altered in 1846, and upgraded to health
and safety standards in 2006.
Previously it jutted further into the church. In earlier
days
the Sunday School children sat up there during services.
The glass screen was inserted in 1973 sealing off the ringing
chamber but leaving the bellringers visible.
Henley is
justifiably proud of its eight bells, the two oldest are dated 1480
with another 1736 and one dated 1809. The remainder were installed
in 1902. In 1972 the bell frame was renovated and the bells rehung
on ball bearings. The ringers also have a hand bell team which is
well known. The present handbells were purchased in 1969. The bell
for the new clock to strike the hours was installed in 1976 having
been transferred from a church at Ubbeston and was cast in
1520.
Between the
ceiling of the nave and the roof is an opening entered from the
tower where it is suggested that the villagers kept smuggled goods.
In 1846, when the steps up to the tower were repaired, it was
observed that the steps were well worn.
The funeral hatchment (wooden plaque) on the wall opposite the
porch is for Miss Harriet Ibbetson who died in 1843-aged 69,
daughter of Sir James Ibbetson from Yorkshire.
She was a
tenant of Henley Hall and gave generously to
the parish including the vestry,built in 1838 as a day
school, plus a legacy for a church education.
The vestry was rebuilt in 1904 and in 1971 had additional
facilities provided from a legacy. In 1988 the roof was retiled at
a cost of £6,000 and in 1993 modern heating was installed. The
porch at the north end of the vestry was converted into a toliet
room in 2003.
The vestry was used as a school, with part of the churchyard as a
playground, until the present School Board building down the road
was built in 1875. In the northwest corner of the churchyard is a
brick "shed"
which was refurbished in 1992 for use as a general store.
A seat has been placed on the south side in memory of a man from
the village who died tragically young. The building may have been
there when the school was held in the vestry. The building was used
at one time as a fuel store for the coal stove used to heat the
church. The stove was in the base of the tower.
In the
vestry are pictures of earlier vicars and choirs, including Rev. H.
Pearson and Rev. W.C. Pearson, father and son, who between them
held office for 92 years until W.C. Pearson died on 13th January
1942 having fallen downstairs in the wartime blackout and was found
by his housekeeper next morning in the vicarage which stood at the
other side of Church Lane until demolished in 1976.
It is said
that his ghost was sometimes sensed at the head of the stairs. His
tomb is between the church porch and the tower with his father's,
mother's and a sister's near the priests door in the chancel and
adjacent to the raised tomb erected by Miss Ibbetson's only
surviving brother. The 30 chairs in the vestry were given in 1993
as a memorial to Albert Hill, Sidney Quinton and Jack Ward, all
well loved inhabitants of the village. The parish council also gave
the electric clock in memory of Jack Ward in 1991 for his services
to the council and the
village.
To the right
of the vestry is a charming memorial to Elizabeth Vere, daughter of
Rev. Glanville of Offton. The de Vere family were connected to the
parish for over 200 years. Anne, the wife of an earlier John de
Vere, has a tombstone in the chancel recording their 16 years of
marriage and the surviving children; four sons (William, John,
Francis and Edward) plus five daughters (Elizabeth, Mary, Anne,
Frances and Susan). She subsequently remarried George Gosnell of
Ipswich. A later member of the family, Thomas, was mayor of Norwich
and an MP. He gave a legacy to the parish with a request for
special services on St. Thomas' day, 21st December. The family sold
out and left the parish in 1840.
The various
war memorials record the losses suffered by the village and in
recent years details of these young men have been traced and
recorded.
The Good
News Bibles in the pews and on the lectern with the embroidered
bookmark were given in memory of parishoners and their families.
The modern pattern kneelers were embroidered and given to the
church in 1981-1984.
Moving along
the north wall, the first three-light window was inserted in 1872
"in place of an old brick one which was out of repair". The next
two-light window was also repaired in 1872 but the shape was not
changed. This work, plus repairs to the west windows appear to have
been done by Mr Haggar to whom £23 16s was paid in June 1872. The
two lancet windows in the chancel appear to be originals in the
early English style.
The Roland
electronic piano in the chancel was brought into use on 4th
September 1994 to replace the Hammond organ used since 1952. With
the attachment of an Orla flute expander, organ sounds can be
produced in addition to the variety of piano sounds that the Roland
can
produce.
Before the
renovations of 1895 the floor of the chancel was some six inches
higher having been raised fifty years earlier, making a steep step
up. During the renovations the floor was lowered to its original
position and a dark wooden reredos across the east end of the
church removed. The panelling had the creed, Ten Commandments and
the Lord's Prayer painted on it. The dossal curtain at the back of
the altar was renewed in 1978. The old painted altar rails were
replaced in 1875. The free-standing lectern was acquired by the
church in the early 1950s and holds a copy of the limited number of
'Vinegar Bibles', so called because of a printing error in Luke 20
where there is a reference to the parable of the vinegar (for
vineyard).
The
Decorated style east window is relatively simple and was inserted
"in Mr. Beevor's time (1840) in place of a wooden one of similar
shape".
The aumbry
(stone cupboard) on the north side would be where the sacrament was
reserved for the sick. The church has two sets of plate, one in use
normally which encludes a ciborium given by the Mothers Union in
2000 and the other, dated 1728, engraved with scenes from the
passion. The second flagon and Paten are on show in the Treasury of
the Cathedral at Bury St. Edmunds. Coinciding with the date on the
earlier plate it is recorded that £1 2s 6d was spent on the
purchase of a new "carpet"(cover) for the Communion Table. The
carpet, running the length of the church, was replaced in 2002
following a receipt of a legacy. The altar cross and most of the
brass items were given in memory of Rev. H. Pearson towards the end
of the 19th century. Two further brass vases were given in 1993 and
the brass jug used baptismal services was aquired in 1996. A wooden
cross made by a parishioner is in place when the brass cross is
locked away.
On the south (right hand) side of the church is the 13th century
piscina, in effect a sink where the communion vessels were washed.
Adjacent is the Sedilia (priests' seats) inset in the wall with
interesting stonework above.
The first window on the south side is in memory of Rev. Beevor,
vicar for 13 years, who died after a long illness at the age of 47
in 1849. It is interesting to note that in those days there was
also a curate who was paid about £50 per year. Lists exist of these
curates most of whom stayed one or two years.
In the Rev.
Beevor's time the Meadows-Theobald family appear to have let Henley
Hall to various tenants and after Miss Ibbetson's death Charles
Steward occupied it. After the recovery of his wife's health he
expressed his gratitude by paying for the next double light window.
He paid for the renovation of the seating, including the carving of
the poppy-head bench end replacements in the same style as the
original where necessary. He also paid for the renovation of the
porch.
In early
photographs, taken about 1900, the relatively simple pulpit appears
across on the north side of the church and the hatchments were
nearer the front of the church.
The large window on the south side is similar to
windows at Barham and Barking and in the dairy at Shrubland Hall.
These are all believed to have come
from the old Shrubland Hall.
The carving on the outside of the window has been recognised as
containing the arms of the Booth family
who occupied Shrubland Hall and the Swillington family
who married into the Booth family.
To the left of the Shrubland window can be seen the bricked-up
entrance and exit of the roodloft staircase. The outer wall is
thicker here to accommodate the steps which would have given access
to the beam across the church, which would have held candles and a
figure of Christ on the cross. This would have been removed at the
time of the Reformation but there is a story that Henley church
clung to Rome for a while and that a window on the stairs was used
as a lookout to obtain warning of the approach of
the image-breakers.
The
last window dedicated to St. Peter is thought to
have been put in about 1900.
The tablet
on the wall to Rev. John Meadows Theobald reminds us of a local
family. The Meadows were at Witnesham at the time of William the
Conqueror and
moved to Henley in 1630 when Ralph Meadows
purchased the farm of William Dameron, who have emigirated to
America.
The family name was changed in 1774 to Meadows Theobald. John
Meadows Theobald held the manor until
his death in 1830 although he lived in Claydon Hall.
The only son, of the same name (referred to on the tablet),
appears to have moved back to Henley Hall
after the departure of Charles Steward who moved to Thurleston
Hall. His son, also John, was killed at Deyrah
in the East Indies in 1876 and a memorial to him is in the east of
the churchyard.
The
hatchment above the door nearer to the gallery was for Mary, mother
of John referred to on the tablet, and a tombstone near the altar
lists members of the family in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
The other
hatchment is for Mrs. Henrietta Sleorgin who has the raised tomb
outside the east window. Little is known of this lady except that
she is understood to have sent parcels to Margaret Catchpole, the
Ipswich woman transported to Australia for taking a horse without
permission.
In 1836 the vicarage would have
been occupied by
Rev. Beevor who died of consumption when only 47. Rev. Henry
Pearson MA, born 18th August 1817, died
5th May 1894, was vicar from 1849 to 1894. He had
two sons: one became a naval officer, the second followed him as
vicar. He also had a daughter Isobel
who died 22nd January 1933 aged 78, and did not
marry. Henry's son William Carter Pearson was born
11th February 1859 and died 13th January 1942.
He was vicar after the death of his father for 48 years.
He was a keen historian and either took or arranged for a number
of local photographs of which a selection are currently on display
in the Comummity Centre.
Gift Aid Inland Revenue name & charity code is.. Henley St
Peter's PCC - QAD8OUG