ESW’s previous “review”:https://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review/attraction/152812-review-st-peter-and-st-paul-s-church of “St Peter and St Paul’s Church”:http://lavenhamchurch.onesuffolk.net/ in Lavenham, Suffolk says so much about the history of the building, that I won’t even attempt to replicate it. However, whilst ESW was a little underwhelmed, I really enjoyed looking around, but what surprised me most were two things. Firstly, the size of the church compared to the village, which appeared totally at odds with each other until we went to the Guildhall later in our trip and discovered that at one time, Lavenham had been the 14th richest place in the country. The second surprise was that the church was open with seemingly no one there to supervise the well-stocked gift shop and substantial second-hand book stall – both were well equipped with contactless machines. A sign about the book stall said that since its inception in 2008, it had raised £138,000.
As volunteers were not on hand, the church had done its best to provide laminated information cards at points of interest and one in particular near the stained-glass window at the front was helpful in interpreting the scenes.
A ring binder explained the Lavenham Church Kneeler Millennium Project and individual photographs of the 261 kneelers, with 150 designs showing the history of the church and village. But it was disappointing that none of them were displayed.
The memorial to those killed in both World Wars had displayed the Royal British Legion flags, and as our visit was in November, several poppy wreaths.
On the floor was the only surviving small brass memorial which looked like a fish. Protected by rails, it was a memorial to Clopton, the 10-day old son of the Lord of the Manor, Sir Symonds d’Ewes. The child had died in 1631 and was shown swaddled in his chrism robe.
Near the church we found a sign for the “Lavenham Hall Gallery and Sculpture Garden”:https://www.katedenton.com/contact/ which could be visited by prior appointment. If you’re planning to visit the church, it might be worth phoning ahead to see the grounds which from peeping through the trees, looked interesting.
