Monks Eleigh, Suffolk

I'm in two minds about St Peter; on the one hand it has suffered a severe Victorian restoration which has left a fairly nondescript interior whilst on the other its location, a Jacobean pulpit and a fabulous west door commend it. I think I'll give it a B+.

ST PETER. A big church. Big Perp W tower with flushwork decoration. Stair-turret on the S side not at the angle. Set-back buttresses continued near the top in polygonal shafts which end in the pinnacles. W doorway with fleuron decoration and hood-mould on two big heads. Niches l. and r. Nave and aisles and clerestory. N and S porches. The chancel is of 1845 . Interior with arcades differing on the N from the S. S arcade with concave-sided octagonal piers (dated C14 by Cautley). N piers normal octagonal. On the S side double-chamfered arches, on the N one chamfer and one sunk quadrant moulding. Ceilure at the E end of the nave roof. - FONT. An odd form, dated C13 by Cautley, and an odd C17-looking cartouche. - PULPIT. With Perp traceried panels. - SOUTH DOOR with tracery. - ALMS BOX. Plain square pillar with the date 1636.

MONKS ELEIGH. Its church stands high above the green, with splendid vistas of the countryside round Lavenham. It has a grand 15th century tower with flint and stone panelling, and a doorway with niches and carvings of Bowers and quaint crawling figures. The turret soars just above the battlements with a clock bell hanging above it facing all the winds that blow. There is a square 13th century font with an ancient cover like a leafy spire, an Elizabethan chalice, and a Jacobean almsbox on a pillar. But the treasure here is the pulpit, with panelled sides and small flowers hanging from its lovely tracery; it is 500 years old.

Flickr.