The Domesday book has no record
of a church in Ufford, but the villages of Bromeswell and
Bredfield are shown as having two churches each. From the
appearance of the north wall of the nave with its very ancient
herringbone courses of ironstone from the Suffolk crag, the
massive round pillar and two half pillars of Caen stone in the
south aisle suggests that these were built in early Norman
times around the 11th century.
Built of flint and stone the original Norman church was 33 feet
long, 23 feet wide and 13 feet high to the eves with an apse at the
east end.
During the reign of King John, circa 1200, the chancel
was added and a few years later, circa 1250, the nave was extended
westward as indicated by the change from round to octagonal
pillars. By around 1320 the great western arch indicates the nave
had reached its present breadth and was joined to a tower at the
western end. This was possibly the work of Robert de Ufford who
held the Manor as a sub-tenant of Roger Bigot and whose descendants
became Earls of Suffolk.
A further period of building commenced
around 1450 with the completion of the tower and the addition of
the south porch. The clerestory must have also been added around
this time. In the latter half of the 15th century all the woodwork
was added by the Willoughby family: the font cover, the fine
chancel roof and the rood loft . The coat of arms of Sir
Christopher Willoughby, who succeeded his brother as Lord
Willoughby de Earsby in 1467, is evident throughout. It is likely
that his close connection with the parson is the reason for the
exceptional wealth of carved woodwork.
Medieval Roof
The nave roof is arch-braced,
without collars and has hammer and tie-beams alternately. The
chancel roof is unusual in that it is a arched-braced collar
type but the arched bracing is intersected by pendants about
half way up. Much of the original colouring is retained with
the rafters and boards between having the sacred monogram
I.H.S. and M.R., the cypher of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Font Cover
The magnificent font cover,
described by H Munro Cautley as "the most beautiful
cover in the world", dates from about 1450 and rises to
over 18 feet above the font.
It rises in receding tiers of canopied
niches, with image stools that formerly held statues, terminating
in a carved pelican, the mystic symbol of Christ. Each niche is
elaborately canopied with intricate pinnacles and tabernacle work.
At the salient angles there are pierced and traceried buttresses
with crocketted springing and converging ribs and the buttresses
terminate in lofty pinnacles. The lower tiers of buttresses each
contain a further canopied niche and little figure. The skill of
the craftsmen is demonstrated by making the whole cover telescopic
- the lower part sliding up over the upper tier.
Originally the whole cover was gilded and
coloured, and even had gesso decoration but only indications of
this original work remain.
During the English Civil War, William Dowsing was a puritan soldier
and Provost-Marshall of the armies of the Eastern Association,
responsible for supplies and administration. In 1643 he was
appointed by their Captain-General, the Earl of Manchester as
"Commissioner for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and
superstition" to carry out a Parliamentary Ordinance of the 28th of
August 1643 which stated that "all Monuments of Superstition and
Idolatry should be removed and abolished",
On 21st August 1644, he visited the church but was so impressed
with its magnificence he spared it too much damage. His journal
gives the longest entry to Ufford describing the font cover “ There
is a glorious cover over the font, like a Pope’s triple crown, a
pelican on the top picking it’s a breast, all gilt over with
gold”.
References
Cautley, H Munro - Suffolk Churches and Their
Treasures, Boydell Press.
St Mary of the Assumption at Ufford in Suffolk - Guide
Book
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/Ufford.htm