St Peter and St Paul's Church, Clare

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Clare is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Clare, Suffolk.Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Suffolk It is one of the largest in East Anglia,D P Mortlock, The Guide to Suffolk Churches, Lutterworth Press 2009, p114 and is included by Simon Jenkins in his 2009 book England's Thousand Best Churches, where he awards it three stars.Simon Jenkins, England's Thousand Best Churches, Penguin 2009,

History The list of past priests extends as far back as 1307.Thornton op. cit. p139 The west tower is designed in the perpendicular style of the 13th century, however the church is principally of the 14th and early 15th century.

The church has undergone several renovations including to the nave in the 1440s, the chancel in 1617, and the tower at the end of the 19th century. Pevsner op. cit. p166-167Simon Jenkins, op cit p743

The clerestory are slender and closely set, the effect has the same erectness as Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford and St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham.

The church possesses a late 15th-century brass lectern in the form of an eagle with three dogs as feet rather than lions; this may have served as a collection-box, money posted at the beak exiting at the tail. There are two fine private pews, one with the emblems of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, the other an ostentatious Stuart gallery pew with scroll-sided poppyheads "so like those at Little Thurlow that they may have been carved by the same man".Mortlock op. cit. p 115 In the chancel there are rare Jacobean carved choir stalls. The motto above the sundial over the south porch reads: 'Go about your business', not a mercantile admonition but a peremptory version of St Paul's advice: "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies".Bible, King James version, 2 Thessalonians 3.11 Around the doorway may be seen carved ten faces of the Green Man, a somewhat pagan image to be seen on a church, but widely used across Christian Europe.

The greatest disaster to befall the church was the visit of William Dowsing in 1643. The Puritan Parliament decreed the demolition of altars, removal of candlesticks, and defacement of pictures and images. 'Basher' Dowsing, a fanatical anti-Romanist, was appointed as 'Parliamentary Visitor for the East Anglian counties for demolishing the superstitious pictures and ornaments of churches'. 'Cromwell's iconoclast'Simon Jenkins op. cit. p734 kept a journal of his visits. On 6 January 1644, he visited six churches, including Haverhill. As for Clare, he wrote: "We brake down 1000 pictures superstitious: I brake down 200; 3 of God the Father, and 3 of Christ, and of the Holy Lamb, and 3 of the Holy Ghost like a Dove with Wings; and the Twelve Apostles were carved in wood, on top of the Roof, which we gave order to take down; and 20 Cherubim to be taken down; and the Sun and the Moon in the East window, by the King's Arms to be taken down". Bullet holes in the roof suggest one inaccurate method, while the rest was done with arrows, stones, poles, and whitewash. The Sun and Moon still survive.Hatton op. cit. IV p 86-88

Like most English churches, it was altered in the Victorian era. It was first repaired in 1834–36, and a gallery was also added. In 1876 a plan was given by the architect James Piers St Aubyn for work done between 1877 and 1883. In 1898, Detmar Blow, architect for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, was brought in to repair the tower.Riches, Ann "Notes on Victorian Churches", in Henry Munro Cautley (1982) Suffolk Churches 5th edn,

Administration The Parish of Clare with Poslingford also includes St Mary's Church, Poslingford, now a chapel of ease. It is part of the Stour Valley Benefice, along with the parishes of: St Mary the Virgin's Church, Cavendish St John the Baptist's Church, Stoke-by-Clare St Leonard's Church, Wixoe All Saints Church, Hundon

Features

Organ

In the eighteenth century an organ stood at the west end of the church, but this was moved to the current position in 1864. A new organ was obtained in 1888, originally built in 1847 by Gray and Davison for St John the Evangelist's Church, Regent's Park, London.

In 1977 a replacement was acquired from St Peter's Church, Ipswich as a memorial to Clare Wayman (1892-1976). A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Bells The church has a ring of eight bells, noted as having heaviest tenor of any ring of eight bells in Suffolk weighing 28cwt.

The 7th bell is unusually inscribed Trintas Sancta Campanum Istam Conserva ("Holy Trinity conserve this bell") and was likely cast around 1410.Mortlock op. cit. p115 The sixth bell dates from 1579, and is by John Dier. At 15cwt and 43 inches in diameter it is largest example of Dier's work to survive.

In 1781 the ring was increased by from six to eight when William Mears cast two additional bells. The third and fifth are by the Miles Graye family of Colchester. The tenor of 28 cwt was recast in 1893 by Charles Newman of Norwich, and the fourth was recast in London by William Mears.

The gotch

An unusual item in the church is the gotch, a beer jug presented to the bell ringers in 1729 by the vicar, Matthew Bell. It is nearly high and has a capacity of . It has a pun in its inscription campana sonant canore ("the bells ring in harmony"). The bell and crown, embossed upon it, are a reference to the Crown Hotel which was owned by the family of the vicar.

The church today The church is open for visitors every day. The Friends of Clare Church holds regular fundraising and social events to support the church. The Society for Music in Clare Church organizes concerts throughout the year. There is an active branch of the Mothers' Union and a Flower Guild.

The choir sings at every principal Sunday service. The church has a well-stocked shop and bookstall. Parking is available around the church in Clare and the nearest car park is at Clare Country Park, about five minutes away up a moderate incline.

Incumbents

Dates from left to right. +John De Stebbing 1307Richard de Scordich 1329Gilbert de Karliolo 1343John de Houghton 1344John Joye 1348Nicholas de Lydgate 1350Thomas Porter 1361Richard Clerk 1388William Hall 1390Walter Cove 1394William Reed 1398Thomas Custen 1404Richard Pumpy alias Tylney 1432Thomas asty 1462John Knight 1467William Wellys MA 1468John Wyllys 1476Reginald Annyson 1477Reginald Annyson 1477Thomas Sutton DR 1482John Halyman 1502Richard Turner MA 1505John Reiston 1516Robert Parker 1562Thomas Rogers 1565Nicholas Whitfilde 1566Radulph Leyver BA 1569Robert Ballard BA 1582James Resould 1591William Colt MA 1598Daniel Booth MA 1617Isaac Joyner MA 1617Robert Wilmot MA 1623William Good MA 1627Roger Cook MA 1645John Ockley MA 1663John Kenyon 1690Oliver Cobb MA 1703Matthew Bell BA 1727John Bell BA 1750William Lens 1784Abraham Wallett 1785William Brook Jones BA 1791William Sadler MA 1804Henry Blunt BA 1819George Wightman DD 1833John C. Coleman 1854Thomas Parkinson 1869Frederick S.P. Seale BA 1871Joseph W. Collins 1876Robert Sorsbie MA 1882James R.M. Vatcher MA 1896Francis S. Swithinbank BA. 1931Richard L Hordern MA 1962John D. Beloe MA 1969Ralph Thicknesse MA 1974Maurice G. Woodward MA 1977David J. Wardrop ALCD 1986W. John A Rankin MA 1993Stuart Mitchell 2011Mark Woodrow CTh (Oxon), 2021

References

External links

St Peter and St Paul, Clare at suffolkchurches.co.uk. Church Website . Benefice Website including all the Parishes mentioned.