The amazing ceiling of St Mary - Huntingfield

Suffolk has a magnificent legacy in its hundreds of churches, which tell the story of medieval times and onward. One of the many such churches was on the itinerary for today. Having read about the magnificent ceiling decorations in St Marys in Huntingfield, this was our  main aim for today. Not medieval I know, but an amazing Victorian legacy.

This post was originally made in 2019 but I have moved it to today after a revisit and some added info and images

I have started photographing the village signs that we come across, so this was one to add to the collection.- Huntingfield. The name conjours up all sorts of images of time past.

The existing church certainly dates from the 11th century but there are signs that there had been a chapel here long before. The first church was built by the family who took their name from the village and lived in the manor for 250 years, the Lords de Huntingfield.

The chancel was added in the thirteenth century and the brick section (above) on the north side was added in the 18C as a chapel for the Vanneck family - the Vannecks being Barons of Huntingfield at the period.

By the end of the fourteenth, the south side of the nave had been altered and both aisles had been built in the fashionable Gothic style with its pointed arches. The five small high, or clerestory, windows on the south side of the nave would have provided light into the nave, the advent of affordable glass having made such things possible.

The east window of the south aisle has all that remains of the medieval glass that would once have filled many of the windows. There is a record of what was still to be seen here in the sixteenth century which lists the memorial windows with the coats of arms borne by the families who once owned the Manor.

The windows of the south aisle are particularly pretty and date from the fifteenth century. Their Perpendicular style is indicated by their familiar flat-topped shape. The porch is also from the fifteenth century. The font dates from the fourteenth century.

Virgin Mary over the front porch.

Inside the porch was this stoup. A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches, and some Lutheran churches to make the Sign of the Cross using the holy water upon entrance of the church. Holy water is blessed by a priest or a deacon, and many Christians believe it to be a reminder of the baptismal promises.

Inside the church, before you even look up, there is evidence that this church was heavily influenced by the ideas of the Oxford Movement. Almost Catholic in parts.

But for the main story - the Reverend William Holland 1813-1891, of Boston Lincs, M.A. of Lincoln College Oxford 1840, was Rector of Huntingfield  from 1849-1891. In 1835 he married Mildred Keyworth Holland 1813-1878 at Skendleby Lincs.
What the vicar of Huntingfield had in his new wife, and many other ministers didn't, was a visionary wife. Between 1859 and 1866, Mrs Mildred Holland planned, designed and executed the most elaborate redecoration of a church this county had seen since the Reformation. For seven years, she lay on her back at the top of scaffolding, first in the chancel (angels) and then in the nave (saints on the ceilure, fine angels on the beam ends), gilding, lettering and painting this most glorious of small church roofs. Her husband, the Reverend William Holland, kept a journal throughout this period, and there is no suggestion that she had any assistance, beyond that of workmen to raise the scaffolding, and a Mr E.L. Blackburne FSA, who was, apparently, an 'authority on medieval decoration'.

According to rumour, by the time she was nearly finished with the mural, Mildred had become unable to stand from the pain of painting upright for so long and had to work lying down.

 

The ceiling is a masterpiece of Victorian church decoration, painted from end to end in brilliant colours, with carved and coloured angels, with banners, crowns and shields, all in the medieval style and of a most intricate and detailed finish.

The scheme of decoration is important as it reflects the ecclesiastical devotion of the late Victorian period clergy and their patrons, combined with the heightened liturgical practices of the Oxford Movement.

It is truly magnificent, and one can only gaze in awe at the work of this amazing woman.

A closer view of the Chancel ceiling.







One of many interesting pew ends

Mildred Holland died in 1878; William served on until 1892, a total of forty years. He gave the font cover (Below) in memory of his wife and also the brass lectern with its graceful angels and winged dragons.(Above)

Their graves are in the churchyard to the west of the entrance gates. Side by side they lie, beneath a table tomb alongside a standing cross.

This church is a `must see` if you have the chance. I know its a church, but to me its a memorial too, to an amazing and dedicated woman.

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