Catechism photos on Flickr

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The Union School & Church was established around 1735 in Dillingersville, Pa. The building shown is the fourth on the site and was built in 1885.

A typical school day often began when the teacher went to the end of the path leading to the school building ringing a bell which signaled the start of the school day. A school day started at 8:00 A.M. and concluded at 5:00 P.M. with one hour for lunch.

German was the language taught exclusively. Eight grades were conducted by one teacher in the typical one-room building. The varying sizes of desks determined the grade in which a child was placed. Dunce stools were conspicuously placed for those students not performing to the best of their ability. Silence was mandatory; disturbances were dealt with by disciplinary flogging enforced by means of a hickory switch, wooden paddle, or leather strap.

Reading, writing, arithmetic, catechism, and singing were the subjects taught. Recitation was important since paper was scarce and expensive. Chalkboards and chalk were practically non-existent in the earlier days, and books were always in short supply. For the student's efforts, after eight years, his benefits included the ability to write his name, do simple figuring of pence, shillings, and pounds, and probably being able to boast of having read five or six books, not including the Bible; proving he was no longer average.

The Horn Book was probably the first book known to many of the settlers' children. It consisted of one page about the size of an ordinary spelling book, printed on one side only and attached to a wooden paddle-like board with a handle projecting from the bottom side. The sheet of paper was held in place with a brass frame and was covered with a thin transparent sheet of horn; thus the origin of it's name. The page was prefaced with the cross, often called the 'crises-cross', followed by the small and large letters of the alphabet; vowels and single consonants, the Lord's Prayer and on some the Roman numerals one to ten.

Early church schools such as the Dillinger School had A-B-C books, at that time, printed in the German language.

Outbuildings housed the toilet facilities used both in summer and winter. Water was brought to the schoolhouse from the source ( a springhouse is located several hundred yards from this building) and dipped as needed. Wood was gathered from the land and stored in the woodbox ready to feed the pot-bellied stove to provide adequate warmth at least to those students within close range of it while the other students never became comfortably warm.

Wooden peg coat racks lined the walls with shelves above where lunch boxes or baskets and later possibly paper bags were kept until the lunch break.

Most of the teachers were men who frequently doubled as the preacher.

During the planting and harvesting seasons the older children's attendance was intermittent thereby making it imperative for perfect attendance during the earlier years.

Candles or kerosene lamps provided the source of light. A suspended wall divider made it possible to divide the one room into two distinct sections. These doors were easily retracted into the space above the ceiling.

In 1867 the organization incorporated through the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas in the name of the Union School and Church Association.

The fourth and present building is basically constructed of shaped field stone masonry, a Bangor slate roof with an octagonal spire which houses the bell in a cupola topped with a finial weathervane, typical of 18th century architecture.

Inside typical four-foot wainscot, pineboard flooring, double hung four-over-four windows simulating the Italianic influence in tall casements are to be noted.

A kerosene hanging light with nine etched glass globes directed upward toward a heavy ornate glass reflects the light and this is surrounded by a frame of copper. This beauty was donated to Dillingersville School around the time the present building was erected.

Source: Historic notes compiled by Sarmae Doney and Sandy Eck, 1976.

References: A.S .Berky's book, "Schoolhouse Near the Old Spring", The History of Lehigh County by C.C. Roberts, Schwenkfelder Library, Pennsburg, Pa.

Primada Cathedral, Toledo Spain by Bill Lowe

Since 1088 the main church of Toledo has been recognised as the primate cathedral over all others within the kingdom. It was therefore necessary for it to have a worthy see, once the direct danger of Muslim invasions had receded after the Christian victory at Navas de Tolosa in 1212. It occupies a place that appears always to have been sacred, it being on the site of the relocated main mosque, the Visigoth cathedral replacing it, possibly built on top of an earlier one.

The construction of the current building began in 1226, the archbishop being Jiménez de Rada and during the reign of Fernando III “the Saint”. The names of the earliest architects are known: Martín, responsible for the French gothic style plans and his successor, Petrus Petri. The temple base is a Latin cross, called a hall, because of being included in the rectangular plan. The elevation marks the cross, creating a vertical triangular shape since the central nave and the transept are much wider and higher than the side naves, the exterior naves being the lowest.

It is very interesting to climb one of the towers in Toledo where you can get an aerial view of the roofs of the cathedral forming a perfect cross surrounded by aerial flying buttresses marked by slender pinnacles. Only this way, or from the vantage points in the valley can the majestic nature and complexity of this outstanding building be appreciated, hidden away in a hollow in the middle of the city.

The oldest door of the temple is that of the North transept, inspired by the corresponding door of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, given the high influence that the French gothic style has on these entrances. The mullion with Virgin and Child introduces the theme of scenes from the life of Christ, sculpted on its tympanum. It is a type of catechism in stone for believers in the XIII Century. It should be read in order, starting from the lower left end, from the Assumption to the Final Judgement and the Death of the Virgin on the upper part.

Its present stone dome is from the beginning of the XVII Century, covering the Corpus Christi chapel, built on the orders of cardinal Cisneros on the recovery of the Mozarabic Rite, replaced by Catholic rites, coinciding with the Christian conquest of Toledo, 1085.

The tower, ninety metres high, was completed with a final octagonal body, finished with the slate alcuzon and three crowns designed by the master Hanequin of Brussels in the XV Century.

The main facade has three entrance doors, that of the “Pardon” or “Kings” in the centre, that of the “Palms” or “Hell” next to the tower and that of the “Scribes” or “Judgement” by the Mozarabic Chapel. There are another two, these being the aforementioned door at the North transept, called “the Fair”, “the Sandal Maker”, the “Lost Child” or the “Clock”, this installed on the orders of cardinal Lorenzana, at the end of the XVIII Century to mark canonical hours, hence it has only one hand. And, finally the Door of the Lions at the South transept, combining gothic and baroque sculptures, all of the highest quality.

Up to this point, orthodox gothic design is followed. However, Toledo Cathedral has more entrances, two that lead to the cloister, that of “the Presentation” and that of “Santa Catalina” and the last, unique because of its location in the South wall, the neo-classical “Flat Door”, the only one that does not have steps. This modest "service entrance" that gave access to stonemasons and sculptures for the temple for centuries, became a noble porch for the passing of the famous Monstrance, when the Corpus Christi procession makes its majestic departure. It is currently the entrance door for visitors. The cloister can be entered through the Mollete Door and there are another five auxiliary doors in the walls of the structures added to the temple.

The wide range of sculptures in every part have doctrinal and didactic roles, as well as artistic ones. The exterior choir shows many scenes from the Old Testament and the Large Dome from the New Testament.

The collection of paintings is also important, above all the excellent collection kept in the Sacristy that contains Christ Stripped of his Garments and the Apostolate by Greco, paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, Van Dyck, Goya, Morales, Rubens, Bassano and many more. Juan de Borgoña and Lucas Giordano should also be mentioned separately, since their most outstanding paintings are the frescoes that decorate the walls of the Chapter House and the ceiling of the Sacristy respectively.

Another type of art that is very noticeable is the gold and silver work. The cathedral’s treasure is exhibited in the chapel below the tower, including the imposing Monstrance by Enrique de Arfe, composed of numerous pieces fitted together in a gothic filigree style of gold-plated silver. This is the precious case for the real Monstrance of the Sacred Way, being made of solid gold, belonging to the Catholic Monarchs. Once a year it is paraded through the streets of the city for the exaltation of faith during the secular procession of Corpus Christi.

The “San Juan de los Reyes” Monastery The church was built to hold the “dynastic mausoleum” of queen Isabel the Catholic, dedicated to saint John the Evangelist, of whom the queen was a devout admirer. The use of the building dictated its type of simulated bier, surrounded by pinnacles in the form of wax candles.

The sanctuary and transept of the church were planned and erected by Juan Guas, the first person to hold the post of Royal Architect. The Franciscan cord runs along the entire facade, it being the order that occupies the building. The sanctuary is polygonal with buttresses crowned with needles or pinnacles, decorated with royal arms and life-sized heralds, showing the Catholic Monarchs shield shining among their clothing. The cimborio above the transept is octagonal, crowned by cresting and decorated with more gothic pinnacles. Above the side door there is an outstanding Stations of the Cross, showing the Virgin and Saint John, but not Christ. He is symbolised by the pelican placed on the cross, in accordance with the medieval belief that the bird was able to feed its young with its own blood, this being a type of precursor of the Eucharist.

The church has a hall floor with a spacious transept to hold future burial tombs. The sanctuary is polygonal making a tapestry of sculpture of Mudejar style. It is covered with a vault of eight-pointed stars and is supported by tubes. In the transept in the nave, the epigraphic decoration can also be seen, also from the Mudejar tradition, these signs alluding to the conquest of Granada. The entrance was planned for the end of the base of the church and the high choir, leading from the nave to the main altar, following the growth in illumination in the spaces. The repeated royal coats of arms in the main chapel were created before 1492, since the pomegranate fruit does not appear, which was a symbol of the then conquered kingdom. All of the decoration is repetitive and intended to underline the magnificence of the monarchs. Isabel is symbolised by sheaves of arrows that represent the union of forces and by the letter “Y” of her name, in the spelling of the time.

Fernando is symbolised by the letter “F” and by a yoke with the motto "tanto monta" (it is all the same), which alludes to the myth of the Gordian knot, cut by Alexander the Great when faced with the impossibility of untying it. It is a justification for the means used to obtain the desired ends. Here it indicates the primacy of the reason of the State above other considerations, as considered by Machiavelli. It is no accident that the symbols of each of the consorts begin with the initial of the name of the other.

Another key space is the square, two-tiered cloister, one of the masterpieces of late gothic art within the Hispanic-Flemish aesthetic, which combines gothic and Mudejar elements, something very typical of Juan Guas. The length of its sides with five spans is exactly half that of the nave of the church. The lower cloister is covered with a German style ribbed vault, without which the ribs would join in the centre, therefore without a key.

The upper cloister shows a wooden coffered ceiling with typical Mudejar tracery. The columns, arches, and pilasters are covered in animal and vegetable motifs, many of them also holding a symbolic meaning. Among them are human figures, separate or together in scenes, such as a boy stabbing an eagle, a monkey horseman riding a dog playing the flute, another sitting on a toilet, and many more, typical of the range of gothic taste. However, some may come from the Restoration in the XIX Century. Throughout the cloister there are sculptures of biblical figures on pedestals and under canopies. The steps that lead to the upper cloister show Renaissance motifs, a half orange vault, masks, pilgrims’ badges, caissons, and examples of the work of Alonso de Covarrubias.

The chains hanging on the exterior walls of the church are especially noteworthy. They refer to the prisoners freed during the long Granada campaign and were hung in 1494, as a votive offering and a symbol of the triumph of Christian faith. They complete the planned decoration of the building well.

In the end, the monarchs changed their opinion after the conquest of Granada and their final resting place is in the new cathedral of that city.

The convent was practically destroyed during the War of Independence and was only rebuilt in part, the second cloister disappearing, in accordance with the historical criteria of the XIX Century, leaving no distinction between the old and the restored, the gargoyles of the cloister being the best example of this.

Day 10 - Québec City H - Monastère des Ursulines, Chapel of Mère Marie de l’Incarnation by Alain DC

Saint Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U.

Missionary, Foundress of the Ursuline Order in Canada

Born Marie Guyart

28 October 1599 — Tours, Touraine, Kingdom of France

Died 30 April 1672

Québec City, Canada, New France

Beatified 22 June 1980, Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II

Canonized 2 April 2014 by Pope Francis

Feast 30 April

Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. (28 October 1599 – 30 April 1672) was an Ursuline nun of the French order. As part of a group of nuns sent to New France to establish the Ursuline Order, Marie was crucial in the spread of Catholicism in New France. Moreover, she has been credited with founding the first girls’ school in the New World. Due to her work, the Catholic Church declared her a saint, and the Anglican Church of Canada celebrates her with a feast day.

Early life

Marie of the Incarnation was born Marie Guyart in Tours, France. Her father was a silk merchant. She was the fourth of Florent Guyart and Jeanne Michelet’s eight children and from an early age she was drawn to religious liturgy and the sacraments. When Marie was seven years old, she experienced her first mystical encounter with Jesus Christ. In her book Relation of 1654, she recounted: “With my eyes toward heaven, I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in human form come forth and move through the air to me. As Jesus in his wondrous majesty was approaching me, I felt my heart enveloped by his love and I began to extend my arms to embrace him. Then he put his arms about me, kissed me lovingly, and said, ‘Do you wish to belong to me?’ I answered, ‘Yes!’ And having received my consent, he ascended back into Heaven.” From that point onward, Marie felt “inclined towards goodness.”

Intent on belonging to Christ, Marie, aged fourteen, proposed to her parents that she enter religious life with the Benedictines of Beaumont Abbey but her parents disregarded her desire. Instead, she was married to Claude Martin, a master silk worker in 1617. By her own account, she enjoyed a happy - although brief - marriage and within two years she had a son, also named Claude. Her husband died only months after the birth of their son, leaving Marie a widow at the age of nineteen.

With her husband’s death, Marie inherited his failing business which she then lost. Forced to move into her parent’s home, Marie secluded herself to pursue a deepening of her commitment to spiritual growth. After a year with her parents, Guyart was invited to move in with her sister and brother-in-law, Paul Buisson, who owned a successful transportation business. She accepted, and helped in managing their house and kitchen.

Though nothing could distract Marie from the pursuit of a spiritual life. “I was constantly occupied by my intense concentration on God,” she wrote in Relation of 1633. Over time, her inclination toward religious life only grew and eventually led her to enter the Ursuline convent on 25 January 1631.

Religious beginnings

Free to pursue her religious inclinations after her husband’s death, Marie took a vow of chastity, obedience and poverty. On 24 March 1620, she received a religious vision that set her on a new path of devotional intensity.

In 1627 Marie read Vida, the autobiography of the Spanish mystic Teresa of Ávila. Marie found many spiritual connections with Teresa, and was heavily influenced by her work. After reading Vida, Marie long aspired to the same goal of her Spanish role model of travelling to the New World and becoming a martyr there. Fueled by Jesuit propaganda and her own visions, Marie became more and more encouraged to travel to New France. So much so, she experienced a vision that would inspire her voyage to the New World and in Relation of 1654 she wrote, “I saw at some distance to my left a little church of white marble...the Blessed Virgin was seated. She was holding the Child Jesus on her lap. This place was elevated, and below it lay a majestic and vast country, full of mountains, of valleys, of thick mists which permeated everything except the church...The Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, looked down on this country, as pitiable as it was amazing...it seamed to me that she spoke about this country and about myself and that she had in mind some plan which involved me.” With the assistance of her spiritual director, Marie identified the country to be Canada and further incentivized her departure to New France. Despite never achieving martyrdom, Marie would spend many years in the New World aspiring towards it, working diligently in the meantime. After her death, the two names would often be connected, and Marie would occasionally be referred to as the Teresa of Canada.

In 1631, after working with a spiritual director for many years, Guyart decided to enter the Ursuline monastery in Tours to try her religious vocation, at which time she received the religious name by which she is now known. Joining the monastery required her to leave her young son, and he expressed much difficulty with the separation. Claude tried to storm the monastery with a band of school friends, and could repeatedly be found crying at the gates, trying to enter. She left him in the care of the Buisson family, but the emotional pain of the separation would remain with them both. Later, when her son had become a Benedictine monk, they corresponded candidly about their spiritual and emotional trials.

New France

Pre-departure

Prior to her departure, Marie de l’Incarnation had been leading a cloistered life as a member of the Ursuline Order. After having professed her vows in 1633, she changed her name to Marie de l’Incarnation; that Christmas, she was confronted with a powerful vision, which functioned as the catalyst for her mission to New France. In this mystical dream, Marie saw herself walking hand in hand with a fellow laywoman against the backdrop of a foreign landscape, on the roof of a small church in this distant, foggy landscape sat the Virgin Mary and Jesus; she interpreted this as the mother and son discussing her religious calling to the new land. She recounted the vision to her priest at the Order, who informed her that the nation she described was Canada, and suggested that she read The Jesuit Relations; from this Marie concluded that her vocation was to help establish the Catholic Faith in the New World.

Personal and financial obstacles delayed her departure by four years. Over this time, she maintained a continuous correspondence with Jesuits in Quebec who were supportive of a female religious presence, which might facilitate the Christianization of Huron women; Marie’s Mother Superior in Tours, and her pre-Ursuline religious director Dom Raymond de Saint Bernard were largely unsupportive, the latter suggesting that it was too lofty for a lowly laywoman. Marie was met with similar resistance from her family. Her brother, Claude Guyart attempted to persuade her into abandoning her mission by accusing her of parental neglect, and by revoking an inheritance designated for her son; these measures did not deter her.

Marie’s initial financial concerns for the funding of the journey, and the establishment of a convent in New France were resolved when she was introduced to Madeleine de la Peltrie on 19 February 1639. Marie recognized that this religiously devoted widow, the daughter of a fiscal officer, was the laywoman from her vision four years earlier. De la Peltrie’s contribution to the endeavour was met with strong opposition from her aristocratic family; to garner their support, de la Peltrie arranged a sham marriage with Christian Jean de Brenière. Madeleine’s new marital status gave her the legal authority to sign over the bulk of her estate to the Ursuline Order, thereby fully funding the mission. Following this, the Ursuline went to Paris, and signed legal contracts with the Company of One Hundred Associates, and the Jesuit Fathers, who were responsible for the colony’s political and spiritual life, respectively. The official royal charter sanctioning the establishment of the foundation was signed by Louis XII shortly thereafter.

On 4 May 1639, Marie de l’Incarnation and Madeleine de la Peltrie, set sail from Dieppe for Quebec on board the Saint Joseph. They were accompanied by a fellow aristocratic Ursuline Marie de Sanonières, the young commoner Charlotte Barré, three nurses, and two Jesuit Fathers.

Arrival

In August 1639 the group landed in Quebec City and established a convent in the lower town. When they began their first work at the foot of the mountain, Quebec was but a name. Hardly six houses stood on the site chosen by Champlain thirty-one years previously. She and her companions at first occupied a little house in the lower town (Basse-Ville). In 1642 the Ursulines moved to a permanent stone building in the upper town. The group managed to found the first school in what would become Canada, as well as the Ursuline Monastery of Quebec, which has been designated one of the National Historic Sites of Canada.

Early interactions with the native populations

Marie de l’Incarnation’s early interactions with Native populations were largely shaped by the constraints created by differing lifestyles, illnesses, and alliances. Indigenous divisions of manual and domestic labour by gender and age diverged significantly from European conceptions of masculine and feminine spheres of work. This made it difficult for Marie and the other Ursulines to educate young girls with methods developed in Europe.

With European colonization came an influx of illnesses. Smallpox outbreaks from the 1630s to the 1650s ravaged Native populations, leading them to believe that Jesuits and Ursulines were imparting disease through their religious practices, and paraphernalia. Fears that baptisms, holy icons and crosses were the source of all epidemics greatly limited the groups’ interactions, and strained Marie’s relationship with Natives in her first decades in New France.

The most volatile relationship Marie and the Ursulines faced revolved around the conflict pitting the French, Huron and other indigenous allies against the Iroquois. Iroquois hostility towards the Jesuit-allied Hurons shaped Marie’s negative view of the Five Nations. Iroquois military victories in the 1650s, and their dominance by the start of the next decade, brought Marie and the Ursulines close to despair. Their distress was heightened by a fire that destroyed their convent in 1650;[15] simultaneous political troubles in France caused European Ursulines to pressure their Canadian sisters to return home, adding to Marie and the Ursulines’ stresses, and fears. Such feelings of helplessness were quelled, however, when the convent was reconstructed with seemingly miraculous speed; a blessing attributed to the Virgin Mary.

Universalizing Impulses

A strong, universalizing impulse underscored Marie de l’Incarnation’s interactions, and activities in New France. Her perceptions of similarities between European Christians, and the potential converts in the New World were the upshots of a cloistered convent life, and largely non-existent experiences with other cultures;[18] such seclusion allowed for an over-simplification of her ambition to spread God’s word transnationally. According to Natalie Zemon Davis, the integrative approach towards Native interactions that developed from this mindset was dissimilar to the Jesuit’s methods of establishing relationships in New France. Jesuits, adopted Native roles in the presence of First Nations peoples, but were quick to shed these association when outside the confines of their settlements; this double life made any fully integrative experience, or universal mindset impossible.

Marie noticed that Native girls were in possession of commendable traits such as submissiveness, and conscientiousness, which would facilitate their adoption of Christian practices, and their commitment to a Christian marriage; the two pillars of a thorough, universalizing conversion.

Education

In the 17th century, a key pillar of education was religious education. Marie followed a strict orthodox teaching method she learnt during her time with the Ursulines in Tours. The system was based on basics of faith, French and Latin literature and civility. The basics of faith included catechism, prayers and hymns. The main objective of the Ursuline school was to educate young French girls and Natives to become good Christians. The young French girls paid one hundred and twenty livres to cover both their education and pension fees. At the time, the young Native girls did not have to pay for their education. The Ursuline’s encouraged the young Montagnais, Hurons and Algonquins to use the seminary as a resource. These girls were taught French mannerisms and were taught how to dress based on French culture. After their education, the young aboriginal students were encouraged to go back to their homes and share their teachings. By educating young girls from different tribes, francization was transmitted from daughter to mother. In her writings, Marie emphasized the fact that the Aboriginal students were treated the same way as the French students at the school. They allowed the girls to sing hymns in both French and their native languages. Many of the nuns created mother-like bonds with the First Nation students. However, there were some problems with the education system during the 17th century. Some students did not stay at the school long enough to receive a complete education. The Ursuline nuns did not have the authority to keep them if the girls want to leave. Another problem was limited economic resources. The school could only accept a limited number of students because of a lack of funds.

Death

Marie died of a liver illness on 30 April 1672. In the necrology report sent to the Ursulines of France, it was written: “The numerous and specific virtues and excellent qualities which shone through this dear deceased, make us firmly believe that she enjoys a high status in God’s glory.”

Works

In addition to her religious duties, Marie composed multiple works that reflected her experiences and observations during her time in the New World and the spiritual calling that led her there.

In relation to her work with the indigenous population, Marie learned Montagnais, Algonquin, Huron, and Iroquois, writing dictionaries and catechisms in each (none of which have survived to today), as well as in her native French. Marie also wrote two autobiographies, though her second Relation was destroyed in a fire at the convent while still in manuscript.

Her most significant writings, however, were the 8,000-20,000 letters she wrote to various acquaintances, the majority of which went to her son Claude. Despite being personal correspondence, some of her letters were circulated throughout France and appeared in The Jesuit Relation in love while she was still alive. Many of the remainder were then published by her son after her death. These letters constitute one of the sources for the history of the French colony from 1639 to 1671. Her collection of works discuss political, commercial, religious and interpersonal aspects of the colony and are helpful in the reconstruction and understanding of New France in the seventeenth century.

Canonization

Marie was declared venerable in 1874. She was then beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 June 1980. She was canonized by Pope Francis on 2 April 2014. The Pontiff waived the requirement of two miracles for Marie and she was granted “equivalent canonization” alongside François de Laval, the first Bishop of Quebec.

Legacy

Marie of the Incarnation is a celebrated founder of the Ursuline Order in colonial New France. Her work with the Amerindians has been recognized by the Anglican Church of Canada and they celebrate her life with a feast day on 30 April. A number of Catholic schools have been named after her. At Laval University, in Québec City, there is the Centre d’Études Marie de l’Incarnation, that is a multi-disciplinary program pertaining to theology and religious practice.

Marie is recognized for her contribution to Canada with a statue that sits in front of the Québec parliament. The sculpture was designed by Joseph-Émile Brunet in 1965 and is located at the Basilica of SainteAnne de Beaupré.

St. Mary the Blessed Virgin, Crundale, Kent by Jelltex

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One of the most remote churches in the county, there is just a single building to be seen from the churchyard, which overlooks a verdant valley and rich woodland.

I have been to Crundale so many times, as there is an orchid-rich woodland along the bridleway beside the church, that it came as a surprise to see I had been inside just the once and took a few wide angle shots.

So, we returned on the last day of February, on leap day.

We surprised a churchwarden inside who was doing some tidying, and as he was leaving said he would turn the lights out, so I grabbed on shots down the nave with the light burning.

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Nave, chancel, north aisle and tower stand in a superb downland setting far from any village. The church is of Norman origin, as can be seen from the surviving window in the north wall of the nave. The semi-circular arches of the two-bay arcade are also late Norman. In the eighteenth century the fine reredos with a scrolly pediment and the altar rails were installed. Also in the chancel is a nice single sedile under a carved canopy. The stonework of the east window is entirely a nineteenth-century creation. The rood loft stairway survives. The narrow north aisle contains a handsome tomb chest to John Sprot (d. 1466), formed by an incised design on an alabaster slab removed here from the chancel. Sprot wears vestments and holds a chalice with the host displayed. His head rests on a pillow decorated with two little Bottonee crosses. It is a pity that it was not always mounted on a tomb chest as parts of the design have been worn away by the feet of centuries.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Crundale

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CRUNDAL.

LIES the next parish north-eastward from Wye. It appears by the register of Leeds abbey, that this parish was likewise once called Dromwæd, which name I conjecture to be the same now called Tremworth; in which register it is said, that Dromewida and Crundale is one and the same parish; Dromewida & Crundale sunt una & eadem villa; and in another place mention is made de Ecclesia de Dromwæd.

It is but a small parish, containing within it not more than twenty-four houses; it is an out of the way situation, having little or no traffic through it. The hills are very frequent in it, and exceedingly barren; the soil is in general chalk, covered with quantities of flints. The country here is very healthy; it is exceeding cold, and has a wild and dreary appearance, great part of it consists of open downs, most of which are uncultivated, those on the eastern side lying on the high ridge of hills adjoining to Wye downs. In the middle of the parish there is some coppice wood, and still more at the north-east boundaries of it.

There are two small streets or hamlets, one in the valley, called Danord, corruptly for Danewood-street; the other eastward from it, on the hills called Solestreet, which is the principal one, where there is a fair for toys and pedlary held yearly on Whit Monday. Close at the end of the former, in the valley, stands the parsonage, a genteel habitable dwelling, and on the hill, about three-quarters of a mile from it the church. About a mile westward, over the hill, is Little Ollantigh, belonging to Samuel-Elias Sawbridge, esq. situated on the downs, this is but a modern name, given to it when the late Mr. Jacob Sawbridge, by his brother's permission, resided at it. It lies among Mr. Sawbridge's park grounds, the land within the inclosure of it being made into gardens for the seat of Ollantigh, and the house for the habitation of the gardeners, and others. Beyond this the downs reach still further westwards, the whole of them being usually called Tremworth downs, from the manor of that name, the house of which is situated on the western bounds of this parish, in the bottom, almost close to the river Stour. The old mansion has been moated round, and many fragments of the arms of Kempe are still remaining both in the windows and carvework of the wainscot and timbers of the house. It had formerly a domestic chapel belonging to it, some of the walls of which are still standing.

¶ON TREMWORTH DOWN, near the summit of the hill, about three-quarters of a mile from Crundal, there is a hollow road, on each side of which there have been found many remains of a Roman Jepulture; the first discovery of which was made in the year 1703, in the waggon road, where, by the descent of the hill, it was worn hollow, and another was again made in 1713, by the then earl of Winchelsea, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Forster, rector of this parish, who were so successful as to meet with several skeletons, bones, skulls, &c. of persons full grown, as well as children, and many urns, pans, and bottles of lead, coloured and fine red earths in graves, the sides and ends of which were firm close chalk in its natural undisturbed state, the earth near the skeletons being stained with blueish spots of mould, occasioned no doubt by the corruption of the bodies.

But before this there had been taken up about the year 1678, a much larger urn than any found afterwards, in digging for land on the range of the hill eastward from Crundal, though in the parish of Godmersham. This was so large, that it might well have been thought one of those family urns, such as Morton describes in his History of Northamptonshire, from Meric Casaubon's notes on Antoninus, being big enough to hold half a bushel; but there was neither ashes nor bones in it, nor any thing else, but a shallow earthen pan, resembling that marked (3) below, with another little urn or pot standing in the midst of it, of fine red earth, and having some letters on it. It was covered with a flat, broad stone, and fenced round with a wall of flint, to defend it from external injuries. A plate is here given of several of the urns and vessels found as above-mentioned. (fn. 1)

The late Rev. Brian Faussett, of Heppington, in 1757 and 1759, dug very successfully at this place; and in the several graves which he opened, found numbers of urns, offuaries, pateræ, and lacrymatories, both of Roman earthen ware and of glass, of different sizes and colours, as red, lead-colour, dark-brown, and white, with the names of the different manufacturers on many of them. He found likewise several female trinkets, and a coin of the younger Faustina, wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who died in 177 after Christ; and what was very singular, the skeletons, of which he found several, all lay with their feet to the south-west. From the circumstance of finding in some graves, urns with burnt ashes and bones in them, and in others skeletons, it appears that this had been a common burial-place for some length of time; and the finding of the above mentioned coin proves it, without doubt, to have been Roman. Mr. Faussett though it to have been the place of sepulture for some few families, or at most for only two or three of the neighbouring villages. In one place near the graves, from the quantity of black mould in one particular place, different from the rest of the soil near it, he imagined that spot might have been made use of as their ustrina, that is, where the funeral pile was placed to burn the bodies of the dead. All the above remains of Roman antiquity discovered by him are now in the valuable collection of his son Henry Godfrey Faussett, esq. of Heppington.

¶THE ROYAL MANOR OF WYE claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which are THE MANORS OF CRUNDAL AND HADLOE, which, with the rest of this parish, were parcel of the honor of Clare, belonging to the noble family of Clare, earls of Gloucester, of whom they were held by the family of Handlou, afterwards written Hadloe, whose seat here was called by their name. John de Handlou possessed these manors in the reign of king Henry III. and died anno 11 Edward I. (fn. 2) possessed of large estates in this and the counties of Oxford, Buckingham, and Gloucester. His son, of the same name, in the 1st year of king Edward II. had a charter of free-warren in all his demesne lands at Crondale, Tremeworth, Vanne, and Ashenedene. He died in the 20th year of king Ed ward III. leaving Edmund his grandson his heir, who possessed his estates here; but he died s. p. in the 32d year of it, and his two sisters, Margaret, then married to John de Apulby, and Elizabeth to John de la Pole, became his heirs to all his estates here, and elsewhere, they sold these manors soon afterwards to Waretius de Valoins, who was before possessed of Tremworth, and other large estates in these parts. He died without male issue, and his two daughters became his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge, grandson of Otho, who came out of Lancashire into Kent, and the other, Thomas de Aldon, who, on the division of their estates, became possessed of these manors of Crundal and Hadloe; and in his descendants they continued till they were at length, by a female heir, carried in marriage to Heron, of Lincolnshire, who, in order to purchase other estates nearer to him in that county, passed away these manors, with the rest of her inheritance in this parish, to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Ollantigh, whose descendant Sir Thomas Kempe dying in 1607, without male issue, his four daughters became his coheirs, one of whom, Mary, married Sir Dudley Diggs, and on the partition of their inheritance, he became in her right entitled to them, and soon afterwards alienated them to Jeremy Gay, of London; from which name they some years afterwards were alienated to John Whitfield, gent. of Canterbury, whose second son Robert Whitfield, of Chartham, about the beginning of king George II.'s reign, passed them away by sale to Humphry Pudner, esq. of Canterbury, whose daughter, and at length sole heir Catherine, carried them in marriage to Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, in Ickham, who died possessed of these manors in 1757, leaving Catherine his wife surviving, who then became entitled to them. She died in 1785, upon which they came, by deed of settlement as well as by her will, to her only son and heir Thomas Barrett, esq. of Lee, who within a few months afterwards exchanged them, for Garwinton, in Littleborne, with Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham, whose son of the same name dying in 1794, s. p. gave them, together with the estate of Little Winchcombe, in this parish likewise, by will, to Edward Austen, esq. of Rowling-place, now of Godmersham, the eldest son of the Rev. George Austen, rector of Steventon, in Hampshire, who continues the present proprietor of them. A court baron is held for these manors.

Crundale-house is situated at a small distance southeastward from Danord-street. The scite of Hadloe manor is at a small distance still further southward. The house of which has been down time out of mind; but there was a baron on it, called Hadloe-barn, remaining till within these few years, which has been lately likewise pulled down.

Charities.

SIR THOMAS KEMPE, by deed in 1503, gave all the trees near or about the church-yard, as a succour and defence to the church. They stand in a piece of ground on the west side of it, which now belongs to the owner of Ollantigh.

THERE has been, time out of mind, two quit-rents paid, each of three-halfpence a years, one out of two acres of land, the other out of a tenement, both at Hessole-street, in the possession of Mr. Ayling; and another quit-rent, of 6d. per annum, out of two acres lying at Little Crundal, now in the possession of Mr. Laming. All three are constantly applied by the churchwardens to the repair of the church.

RICHARD FORSTER, rector of this parish, by will in 1728, gave a parochial library; also two acres of land, lying on the north side of Denwood-street, and a yearly rent charge of 40s. out of a tenement called Little Ripple, in this parish, and the land belonging to it in Crundal and Godmersham, and another yearly rent of 4l. out of a house and lands belonging to it, adjoining to the above street, in this parish, for the use of his successors, rectors of Crundal, for ever.

N. B. This last rent charge of 4l. per annum has been sold, by the consent of the ordinary, patron, and incumbent, and the money laid out in the purchasing of about six acres of land, lying adjoining to Denwood-street, as an augmentation of the glebe.

MR. FORSTER likewise gave a house and an acre of land, lying at Filchborow, in Crundal, and a field, called Harman Hewett, or the Barn-field, containing six acres, lying in Godmersham, to be applied by the minister of the parish and officers, to the teaching of poor children to read and say the Church Catechism, or else to the relief of poor widows and labourers, belonging to and being in this parish; so that yearly on Easter Tuesday 20s. be distributed among such persons.

THOMASINE PHILIPOT, Widow, by will in 1711, left a yearly pension of 10s. out of her house and lands at Sole-street, in Crundal, to the poor of this parish for ever, to be distributed among them by the churchwardens on Christmas-day.

JOHN FINCH, gent. of Limne, by will in 1705, gave 40s. without any deduction, upon Christmas-day for ever, payable out of his lands in Crundal and Godmersham, by the church wardens and overseers of Godmersham, to two of the eldest, poorest, and most industrious labouring men in the parish of Crundal, and who never received relief of this or any other parish, that is, 20s. to each of them yearly on Christmas-day for ever.

Crundal is within the ECCLISIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the discese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

The church, which stands on high grounds, is dedicated to St. Mary. It consists of one isle and one chancel, with a tower Steeple on the north side, having a small pointed low turret on the top. There are three bells in it. In the church-porch is a coffin-shaped stone, with a cross story on it, and round the edge there have been large French capital letters, of which three or four only remain. At the west end of the isle is a vauk, in which life Jacob Sawbridge, esq. and Anne his wife, who once resided at Little Ollantigh, in this parish, with two of their children, who died insants. In the chancel is a large white stone, with the figure and inscription on it, for John Sprot, once rector here; and there was in this church, a memorial for Judith Cerclere Mission, who fied from France on account of her religion, and, after many perils and dangers, arrived at London in 1685, obt. 1692. The altar piece was given by Sir Robert Filmer, bart. in 1704. In the church-yard, on the south side, is a tomb for the worthy and beneficent Richard Forster, rector here, and near it a handsome white marble one, for Mrs. Juliana Harvey and her husband William Harvey, M.D.

The rectory of Crundal was given by the family of Valoyns, in the reign of king Henry II. by the name of the church of Dromwide, to the prior and convent of Leeds, in perpetual alms; (fn. 4) but this never took effect, nor did they ever gain the possession of it, the heirs of the donor of it refusing to ratify this gift, so that there were continual controversies on that account. At length it was agreed, at the instance of archbishop Hubert, that Hamo de Valoyns should grant a rent of 25s. from his church of Dromwæd to the prior and canons for ever; saving to him and his heirs, the presentation to the church, so that the canons should not claim any further right to themselves, nor present to the parsonage in it, nor do any other act to bring his grant into doubt. All which the archbishop confirmed under his seal, by inspeximus. Notwithstanding this, the payment of the above pension seems to have been contested by the rectors of this church; but, on appeal to the pope in king Henry the IIId.'s reign, it was given in favour of the canons, to be paid yearly to them by the rectors of this church, nomine beneficii; and all these confirmations of the several archbishops were again confirmed by the prior and convent of Canterbury in 1278. After which this church remained in the patronage of the lords of Tremworth manor, with which it continued in like manner as has been already mentioned, till it came into the possession of the late Sir John Filmer, bart. who by will in 1796 devised it with that manor to his brother Sir Beversham Filmer, bart. the present proprietor of it. The above-mentioned pension of 25s. on the suppression of the priory of Leeds, came into the king's hands, who settled it on his new founded dean and chapter of Rochester, to whom it now continues to be paid.

This rectory is valued in the king's books at 11l. 10s. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 3s. 1d.

In 1588 it was valued at eighty pounds. Communicant one hundred and ninety-one. In 1640 it was valued at only sixty pounds. Communicants one hundred. In 1615 the rector and churchwardens testified, that there was one parcel of glebe, containing eight acres, adjoining to the close where the parsonage-house stood; and there is now six acres more of glebe lying near Denwood-street, purchased by the rector and church wardens, as has been mentioned before, in the list of charitable benefactions.

THERE IS a portion of corn tithes in this parish, arising from different fields and parts of others, containing in the whole about one hundred acres, called Towne-barn tithery, which was for many years in the family of Finch, earls of Winchelsea, and from them came to George Finch Hatton, esq. of Eastwell, the present owner of it.

¶There was a portion of tithes, called belonging to the tithes of Fannes, in this parish and Wye, belonging to the priory of Stratford Bow, which on the suppression in the reign of king Henry VIII. was granted to Sir Ralph Sadler, to hold in capite. This seems to have been the portion of tithes above-mentioned, rather than for it to have been belonging to Wye college, as has been generally supposed.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp368-381

St Paul (15th Century) by Simon Knott

St Ethelbert, Hessett, Suffolk

Hessett is a fairly ordinary kind of village to the east of Bury St Edmunds, but its church is one of the most important in East Anglia for a number of reasons, which will become obvious. Consider for one moment, if you will, the extent to which the beliefs and practices of a religious community affect the architecture of its buildings. Think of a mosque, for instance. Often square, expressing the democracy of Islam, but without any imagery of the human figure, for such things are proscribed. Think of a synagogue, focused towards the Holy Scriptures in the Ark, but designed to enable the proclaiming of the Word, and the way that early non-conformist chapels echo this architecture of Judaism - indeed, those who built the first free churches, like Ipswich's Unitarian Chapel, actually called them synagogues.

The shape of a church, then, is no accident. A typical Suffolk perpendicular church of the 15th century has wide aisles, to enable liturgical processions, a chancel for the celebration of Mass, places for other altars, niches for devotional statues, a focus towards the Blessed Sacrament in the east, a roof of angels to proclaim a hymn of praise, a large nave for devotional and social activities, and wall paintings of the Gospels and hagiographies of Saints, of the catechism and teachings of the Catholic Church. As Le Corbusier might have said if he'd been around at the time, a medieval church is a machine for making Catholicism happen.

No longer, of course. The radical and violent fracture in popular religion in the middle years of the 16th century gave birth to the Church of England, and the new church inherited buildings that were quite unsuitable for the new congregational protestant theology, a problem that the Church of England has never entirely solved.

Over the centuries, the problem has been addressed in different ways. The early reformers celebrated communion at a table in the nave, for example, and blocked off the chancel for other uses. Although this was challenged by the Laudian party in the early part of the 17th century, it was the way that many parishes reinvented their buildings, and most were to stay like that until the middle years of the 19th century. Some went further. A pulpit placed halfway down the nave, or even at the back of the church, meant that the seating could be arranged so that it no longer focused towards the east, thus breaking the link with Catholic (and Laudian) sacramentalism. For several centuries, Anglican churches focused on the pulpit rather than the altar.

With the coming to influence of the 19th century Oxford Movement, all this underwent another dramatic change, with the great majority of our medieval parish churches having their interiors restored to their medieval integrity, reinventing themselves as sacramental spaces. This is the condition in which we find most of them today, and some Anglican theologians are asking the question that the Catholic Church asked itself at Vatican II in the 1960s - is a 19th century liturgical space really appropriate for the Church of the 21st century?

So, let us hasten at once to Hessett. The church sits like a glowing jewel in its wide churchyard, right on the main road through the village. It is pretty well perfect if you are looking for a fine Suffolk exterior. An extensive 15th century rebuilding enwraps the earlier tower, which was crowned by the donor of the rebuilding, John Bacon.The nave and aisles are deliciously decorated, reminding one rather of the church at neighbouring Rougham, although this is a smaller church, and the aisles make it almost square. A dedicatory inscription on the two storey vestry in the north east corner bids us pray for the souls of John and Katherine Hoo, who donated the chancel and paid for the trimmings to the aisles. Their inscription has been damaged by protestant reformers, who obviously did not believe in the efficacy of prayers for the dead.

Although not comparable with that at Woolpit, the dressed stone porch is a grand affair, and a bold statement. You may find the south door locked, but if this is the case then the priest's door into the chancel is usually open. And in a way it is a good church to enter via the chancel, because in this way St Ethelbert unfolds its treasures slowly.You step into relative darkness - or, at least, it seems so in comparison with the nave beyond the rood screen. This is partly a result of the abundance of dark wood, and in truth the chancel seems rather overcrowded. The most striking objects in view are the return stalls, which fill the two westerly corners of the chancel. These are in the style of a college or school of priests, with their backs to the rood screen, but then 'returning' around the walls to the east. They are fine, and are certainly 15th or 16th century. But one of the stalls, that to the north, is different to the others, and seems slightly out of place. It is elaborately carved with faces, birds and foliage.

Mortlock thought that it might have been intended for a private house. The stall in front of it has heads on it that appear to be wearing 18th century wigs. The sanctuary is largely Victorianised, with a great east window depicting Saints. The south windows of the chancel depict a lovely Adoration scene by the O'Connors. The chancel is separated from the nave by the 15th century rood screen, which is elegantly painted and gilt on the west side, the beautifully tracery intricately carved above. The rood screen has been fitted with attractive iron gates, presumably evidence of Anglo-catholic enthusiasm here in the early 20th century, and you step down through them into the light. A first impression is that you are entering a much older space than the one you have left. There is an 18th century mustiness, enhanced by the box pews that line the aisles. And, beyond, on walls and in windows, are wonderful things.

The number of surviving wall paintings in England is a tiny fraction of those which existed before the 15th and 16th centuries. All churches had them, and in profusion. It isn't enough to say that they were a 'teaching aid' of a church of illiterate peasants. In the main, they were devotional, and that is why they were destroyed. However, it is more complicated than that. Research in recent years has indicated that many wall paintings were destroyed before the Reformation, perhaps a century before. In some churches, they have been punched through with Perpendicular windows, which are clearly pre-Reformation. In the decades after the Black Death, there seems to have been a sea change in the liturgical use of these buildings, a move away from an individualistic, devotional usage to a corporate liturgical one. There is a change of emphasis towards more education and exegesis. This is the time that pulpits and benches appear, long before protestantism was on the agenda. What seems to happen is that many buildings were intended now to be full of light, and devotional wall paintings were either whitewashed, or replaced with catechetical ones.

The decoration of the nave was the responsibility of the people of the parish, not of the Priest. The wall paintings of England can be divided into roughly three groups. Roughly speaking, the development of wall paintings over the later medieval period is in terms of these three overlapping emphases.

Firstly, the hagiographies - stories of the Saints. These might have had a local devotion, although some saints were popular over a wide area, and most churches seem to have supported a devotion to St Christopher right up until the Reformation.

Secondly came those which illustrate incidents in the life of Christ and his mother, the Blessed Virgin. Although partly pedagogical, they were also enabling tools, since private devotions often involved a contemplation upon them, and at Mass the larger part of those present would have been involved in private devotions. These scriptural stories were as likely to have been derived from apocryphal texts like the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew as from the actual Gospels themselves.

Lastly, there are catechetical wall paintings, illustrating the teachings of the Catholic church. It should not be assumed that these are dogmatic. Many are simply artistic representations of stories, and others are simplifications of theological ideas, as with the seven deadly sins and the seven cardinal virtues. Some warn against occasions of sin (gossiping, for example) and generally wall paintings provided a local site for discussion and exemplification.

To an extent, all the above is largely true of stained glass, as well, with the caveat that stained glass was more expensive, relied on local patronage, and often has this patronage as a subtext, hence the large number of heraldic devices and images of local worthies. But it was also devotional, and so it was also destroyed.

So - what survives at Hessett? The wall paintings first.

Starting in the south east corner of the nave, we have Suffolk's finest representation of St Barbara, presenting a tower. St Barbara was very popular in medieval times, because she was invoked against strikes by lightning and sudden fires. This resulted from her legend, for her father, on finding her to be a Christian, walled her up in a tower until she repented. As a result, he was struck by lightning, and reduced to ashes. She was also the patron saint of the powerful building trade, and as such her image graced their guild altars - perhaps that was the case here.

Above the south door is another figure, often identified as St Christopher, but I do not think that this can be the case. St Christopher is found nowhere else in Suffolk above a south door. The traditional iconography of this mythical saint is not in place here, and it is hard to see how this figure could ever have been interpreted as such. I suspect it is a result of an early account confusing the two images over the north and south doors, and the mistake being repeated in later accounts.

In fact, digital enhancement seems to suggest that there are two figures above the south door, overlapping each other slightly. The figure on the right is barefoot, that on the left is wearing a white gown. There appears to be water under their feet, and so I think this is an image of the Baptism of Christ. Perhaps it was once part of a sequence.

The wall painting opposite, above the north door, is St Christopher. Although it isn't as clear as himself at, say, nearby Bradfield Combust, he bestrides the river in the customary manner, staff in hand. The Christ child is difficult to discern, but you can see the fish in the water. Also in the water, and rather unusual, are two figures. They are rendered rather crudely, almost like gingerbread men. Could they be the donors of the north aisle, John and Katherine Hoo in person?

Moving along the north aisle, we come to the set of paintings for which Hessett is justifiably famous. They are set one above the other between two windows, at the point where might expect the now-vanished screen to a chapel to have been. The upper section was here first. It shows the seven deadly sins (described wrongly in some text books as a tree of Jesse, or ancestry of Christ). Two devils look on as, from the mouth of hell, a great tree sprouts, ending in seven images. Pride is at the top, and in pairs beneath are Gluttony and Anger, Vanity and Envy, Avarice and Lust. Mortlock suggests that some attempt has been made to erase the image for Lust, which may simply be mid-16th century puritan prurience on the part of some reformer here. This would suggest that this catechetical tool was here right up until the Reformation.

The idea of 'Seven Deadly Sins' was anathema to the reformers, because it is entirely unscriptural. Rather, as a catechetical tool, it is a way of drawing together a multitude of sins into a simplistic aide memoire. This could then be used in confession, taking each of them one at a time and examining ones conscience accordingly. It should not be seen simply as a 'warning' to ignorant peasants, for the evidence is that the ordinary rural people of late medieval England were theologically very articulate. Rather, it was a tool for use, in contemplation and preparation for the sacrament of reconciliation, which may well have ordinarily taken place in the chapel here.

The wall painting beneath the Sins is even more interesting. This is a very rare 'Christ of the Trades', and dates from the early 15th century, about a hundred years after the painting above. It is rather faded, and takes a while to discern, and not all of it is decodable. However, enough is there to be fascinating. The image of the 'Christ of the Trades' is known throughout Christendom, and contemporary versions with this can be found in other parts of Europe. It shows the risen Christ in the centre, and around him a vast array of the tools and symbols of various trades. One theory is that it depicts activities that should not take place on a Sunday, a holy day of obligation to refrain from work, and that these activities are wounding Christ anew.

Perhaps the most fascinating symbol, and the one that everyone notices, is the playing card. It shows the six of diamonds. Does it represent the makers of playing cards? If so, it might suggest a Flemish influence. Or could it be intended to represent something else? Whatever, it is one of the earliest representations of a playing card in England. Why is this here? It may very well be that there was a trades gild chantry chapel at the east end of the north aisle, and this painting was at its entrance.

At the east end of the north aisle now is the church's set of royal arms. Cautley saw it in the vestry in the 1930s, and identified it as a Queen Anne set. Now, with additions stripped away, it is revealed as a Charles II set from the 1660s, and a very fine one. It is fascinating to see it at such close range. Usually, they are set above the south door now, although they would originally have been placed above the chancel arch, in full view of the congregation, a gentle reminder of who was in charge.

And so to the glass, which on its own would be worth coming to Hessett to see. Few Suffolk churches have such an expanse, none have such a variety, or glass of such quality and interest. It consists essentially of two ranges, the life and Passion of Christ in the north aisle (although some glass has been reset across the church), and images and hagiographies of Saints in the south aisle.

In the north aisle, the scourging of Christ stands out, the wicked grins of the persecutors contrasting with the pained nobility of the Christ figure. In the next window, Christ rises from the dead, coming out of his tomb like the corpses in the doom paintings at Stanningfield, North Cove and Wenhaston. The Roman centurion sleeps soundly in the foreground.

The most famous image is in the east window of the south aisle. Apparently, it shows a bishop holding the chain to a bag, with four children playing at his feet. I say apparently, because there is rather more going on here than meets the eye. The reason that this image is so famous is that the small child in the foreground is holding what appears to be a golf club or hockey stick, and this would be the earliest representation of such an object in all Europe. The whole image has been said to represent St Nicholas, who was a Bishop, and whose legends include a bag of gold and a group of children.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. St Nicholas is never symbolised by a bag of gold, and there are three children in the St Nicholas legend, not four. In any case, the hand in the picture is not holding the chain to a bag at all, but a rosary, and the hockey stick is actually a fuller's club, used for dyeing clothes, and the symbol of St James the Less.

What has happened here is that the head of a Bishop has been grafted on to the body of a figure which is probably still in its original location. The three lights of this window contained a set of the Holy Kinship. The light to the north of the 'Bishop' contains two children playing with what ae apparently toys, but when you look closely you can see that one is holding a golden shell, and the other a poisoned chalice. They are the infant St James and St John, and the lost figure above them was their mother, Mary Salome.

This means that the figure with the Bishop's head is actually Mary Cleophas, mother of four children including St James the Less. The third light to the south, of course, would have depicted the Blessed Virgin and child, but she is lost to us.

Not only this, but Hessett has some very good 19th Century glass which complements and does not overly intrude. The best is beneath the tower, the west window in a fully 15th Century style of scenes by Clayton & Bell. The east window, depicting saints, is by William Warrington, and the chancel also has the O'Connor glass already mentioned.

If the windows and wall paintings were all there was, then Hessett would be remarkable enough. But there is something else, two things, actually, that elevate it above all other Suffolk churches, and all the churches of England. For St Ethelbert is the proud owner of two unique survivals. At the back of the church is a chest, no different from those you'll find in many a parish church. In common with those, it has three separate locks, the idea being that the Rector and two Churchwardens would have a key each, and it would be necessary for all three of them to be present for the chest to be opened. It was used for storing parish records and valuables.

At some point, one of the keys was lost. There is an old story about the iconoclast William Dowsing turning up here and demanding the chest be opened, but on account of the missing key it couldn't be. Unfortunately, this story isn't true, for Dowsing never recorded a visit Hessett. The chest was eventually opened in the 19th century. Inside were found two extraordinary pre-Reformation survivals. These are a pyx cloth and a burse. The pyx cloth was draped over the wooden canopy that enclosed the blessed sacrament (one of England's four surviving medieval pyxes is also in Suffolk, at Dennington) before it was raised above the high altar. The burse was used to contain the host before consecration at the Mass. They are England's only surviving examples, and they're both here. Or, more precisely they aren't, for both have been purloined by the British Museum, the kind of theft that no locked church can prevent.

But there are life-size photos of both either side of the tower arch. The burse is basically an envelope, and features the Veronica face of Christ on one side with the four evangelistic symbols in each corner. On the other is an Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God. The survival of both is extraordinary. It is one thing to explore the furnishings of lost Catholic England, quite another to come face to face with articles that were actually used in the liturgy.

In front of the pictures stands the font, a relatively good one of the early 15th century, though rather less exciting than everything going on around it. The dedicatory inscription survives, to a pair of Hoos of an earlier generation than the ones on the vestry.Turning east again, the ranks of simple 15th century benches are all of a piece with their church. They have survived the violent transitions of the centuries, and have seated generation after generation of Hessett people. They were new here when this church was alive with coloured light, with the hundreds of candles flickering on the rood beam, the processions, the festivals, and the people's lives totally integrated with the liturgy of the seasons. For the people of Catholic England, their religion was as much a part of them as the air they breathed. They little knew how soon it would all come to an end.

And so, there it is - one of the most fascinating and satisfactory of all East Anglia's churches. And yet, not many people know about it. We are only three miles from the brown-signed honeypot of Woolpit, where a constant stream of visitors come and go. I've visited Hessett many times, and never once encountered another visitor. Still, there you are, I suppose. Perhaps some places are better kept secret. But come here if you can, for here is a medieval worship space with much surviving evidence of what it was actually meant to be, and meant to do.

rood screen detail (15th Century) by Simon Knott