| St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aldeburgh | |
|---|---|
 St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aldeburgh | |
 St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aldeburgh | |
| 52°09′18″N1°36′00″E / 52.154952°N 1.5999055°E /52.154952; 1.5999055 | |
| Location | Aldeburgh |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Peter andSt Paul |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* listed |
| Administration | |
| Province | Province of Canterbury |
| Diocese | Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich |
| Archdeaconry | Archdeaconry of Suffolk |
| Deanery | Saxmundham |
| Parish | Aldeburgh with Hazlewood |
St Peter and St Paul's Church is aChurch of England parish church in the town ofAldeburgh inSuffolk,England. It is dedicated to theapostlesPeter andPaul. It has been aGrade II* listed building since 1950.[1]
Buried in the churchyard are thecomposerBenjamin Britten and thephysician andsuffragistElizabeth Garrett Anderson.
Of probableSaxon foundation, a church was recorded at Aldeburgh in theDomesday Book. The oldest extant fabric is probably the 14th-century three-stage tower with polygonal stair turret. The remainder of the building is the result of a majorPerpendicular Gothic rebuilding during the first half of the 16th century, which spanned the years of theEnglish reformation.[2]
The nave, north aisle and north chapel were rebuilt between 1525–1529, followed by the south aisle and south chapel in 1534–1535, the south porch in 1539, and the chancel in 1545. The west gallery was added by Robert Appleton in 1840. Restorations were undertaken in 1870–1871 by Henry Perkin and again in 1891 by Edward Bishop.[3]
Much of the building is in typicalEast Anglianflint flushwork withashlar dressings. The unusual south porch adjoins the pavement and has arches opening to the east and west to allow processions to pass through the precinct.[2]
Thestained glass in the east chancel window, depicting theCrucifixion, was installed in 1891 and has been attributed toHardman & Co. The Lady Chapel contains a 1929 window ofSt Anne teaching theInfant Mary to read, designed byArchibald Keightley Nicholson. The 1980 Benjamin Britten memorial window was designed byJohn Piper and manufactured byPatrick Reyntiens. Across three lights the window depicts representations of Britten's Parables for Church Performance written between 1964 and 1968 -The Prodigal Son,Curlew River, andThe Burning Fiery Furnace. Piper had been a longtime collaborator of Britten, designing many stage sets for his operatic productions.[3]
Thebaptismal font, dating from about 1320, is the oldest surviving fitting. Several of its carved panels of angels and lions were defaced in 1643 during thePuritaniconoclasm ofWilliam Dowsing. A number of carved 15th-century Suffolk-stylepoppyhead bench ends also survive.[4]
The octagonal wineglasspulpit, made in 1632 by John Garrard, is carved with fish and vine motifs in high relief and stands on a tapering pedestal.[2]
The church contains several interesting monuments. In the south chapel stands a neoclassical memorial to Lady Henrietta Vernon, who died in 1786, comprising a sarcophagus with a female figure and angel above. The north aisle contains a bust memorial to the poet and former curateGeorge Crabbe, byThomas Thurlow (1847). A part-gilded marble relief of a dying soldier byGilbert Bayes was first exhibited at theRoyal Academy of Arts in 1917 before being installed as the town’s war memorial.[3][4]
The church has a two manual pipe organ byJ. W. Walker & Sons Ltd dating from 1884. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.[5]
The churchyard contains a large sculpted marble memorial to the sevenRNLI lifeboatmen - John Butcher, Charles Crisp, Thomas Morris, Walter George Ward, Allan Arthur Easter, Herbert William Downing, and James Miller Ward - who perished in theAldeburgh lifeboat disaster on 7 December 1899, when their boat capsized in heavy seas while attempting a rescue.[6] All seven men are buried in a single plot with their own individual cross-shaped marker stone facing the main memorial and looking out to sea. There is also a copper memorial tablet to the men inside the church.[4]
Buried in her family plot isElizabeth Garrett Anderson, who in 1865 became the first woman to qualify as aphysician andsurgeon in England. A longstanding supporter ofwomen’s suffrage, Anderson’s election as Mayor of Aldeburgh in 1908 marked the first time in England a woman would be elected to such a role.[4]
Thecomposer,conductor andpianistBenjamin Britten, who lived in Aldeburgh for twenty years, is buried in the churchyard alongside his partner, thetenorPeter Pears. ThesopranoJoan Cross and the composer and conductorImogen Holst are also interred here.[4]
The church has a ring of eight bells, with all but the sixth bell being cast byJohn Taylor & Co at theirLoughborough foundry in 1960 and 1961 as part of the restoration and augmentation of the ring. The restored bells were rededicated on 18 June 1961. Previously there were six bells, which were rehung by George Day of Eye in 1885, with fourth bell recast and treble added byJohn Warner & Sons to make six. The bells hang in aniroko wooden frame installed at the same time as the bells were overhauled in the 1960s.[7]
Peals lasting around three hours are rung on the bells most months by members of theSuffolk Guild of Ringers. In 2008 a complaint was lodged withSuffolk Coastal district council by a neighbour.[8] The complaint was not upheld and dismissed during a debate in the House of Commons.[9]
| Bell | Date | Note | Diameter | Founder | Weight | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| long measure | lb | kg | |||||
| Treble | 1961 | Ab | 23.50 in (59.7 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 3 long cwt 0 qr 20 lb | 356 | 161 |
| 2nd | 1961 | G | 24.50 in (62.2 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 3 long cwt 1 qr 25 lb | 389 | 176 |
| 3rd | 1960 | F | 26.00 in (66.0 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 3 long cwt 3 qr 21 lb | 441 | 200 |
| 4th | 1960 | Eb | 27.50 in (69.9 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 4 long cwt 2 qr 2 lb | 506 | 230 |
| 5th | 1622 | Db | 28.50 in (72.4 cm) | William & John II Brend | 4 long cwt 1 qr 7 lb | 483 | 219 |
| 6th | 1913 | C | 31.13 in (79.1 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 6 long cwt 0 qr 4 lb | 676 | 307 |
| 7th | 1913 | Bb | 35.00 in (88.9 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 8 long cwt 2 qr 1 lb | 953 | 432 |
| Tenor | 1960 | Ab | 39.13 in (99.4 cm) | John Taylor & Co | 11 long cwt 2 qr 20 lb | 1,308 | 593 |
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