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St Gregory and St George, Pentlow

This lovely little round-towered church sits on the edge of the Suffolk village of Cavendish, but on the Essex side of the River Stour and so in Pentlow parish. Pentlow village is more than a mile away. Not only is it delightfully set beside the Hall but it is full of interest, and usually open every day. The exterior is an instructive lesson that things are not always as they first appear. As medieval apses are so unusual in East Anglia you might think that this is a Victorian confection, but in fact it is original Norman work, as is the nave. As James Bettley points out in his revision of the Buildings of England volume for Essex, what is now the tower arch was once the main entrance into the west end of the nave. The round tower which now stands against it is much later, probably 14th Century going by its window tracery, and the former west doorway tells us that there was no tower there before. It isn't possible for casual visitors to enter the space beneath the tower, but as James Bettley reports, if we could we would turn back and see that the former west doorway is flanked by decorated columns with an animal head at the top of the arch. There is often an assumption that round towers must be Norman, or even Saxon in origin, but in many instances in East Anglia this is not the case and certainly isn't here. You step into a clean, light space, not large and with the feel of a traditional East Anglian village church. The first thing that strikes you on entry is the unusual font and font cover set against the north wall. The font itself is Norman, rugged, square and whitewashed. The font cover above it is Gothic in style and looks likely to date from the late 15th or early 16th Century. It has doors that open to allow access into the font, which may be original and if so it is later rather than earlier. The only coloured glass in the church is on the south side, in the chancel by Percy Bacon of 1931 in his usual archaic style, and that in the nave of five years earlier but looking more modern is by AK Nicholson, the coming man. Bacon's glass depicts Christ as an adult standing between his parents in the outer lights, while Nicholson's depicts St Gregory and St George, who in the 20th Century were the joint patrons of the church. The 19th Century restoration here was by William Fawcett in the 1880s. His are the roofs and the furnishings, and he also removed a west gallery which must have made the nave seem very crowded. The simplicity of his restored nave and chancel are offset on the north side of the latter by an early 17th Century chapel, with a crow-stepped gable and what looks to be a Gothic Survival (as opposed to Gothic Revival) Perpendicular east window, although James Bettley wondered if it had been reused from elsewhere. The chapel houses the Kempe memorial. Judge George Kempe, who died in 1606, lies between his wife Elinore and his son John. The memorial is oddly shunted into the north-east corner of the chapel, which may be because until relatively recently the chapel housed a 19th Century organ. It is easy to imagine the Victorians shifting the Kempes over to make way for the bulky instrument. On the south face, five daughters and four sons kneel piously. Set awlkwardly above the Kempes is another memorial, this time of the late 16th Century, to Edmund and Frances Fulton. It is understated, and in any case more memorable are the hatchments, not something I often say, but one of them is of 2017 to Clifford Stuchfield and so is probably the latest hatchment in all England. Hatchments were traditionally placed on the front of a house where the person had died, carried in the funeral procession and then placed in the church. The legend reads probitas princeps, meaning 'honesty above all'. Below it in a frame is a quaint and lovely hand-lettered and decorated piece dated at the top October 1854 and October 1920 and headed To Miss Sarah P Clarke. It continues we the undersigned representing nearly every household in the Parish of Pentlow, and other friends, ask your acceptance of the accompanying testimonial as marking our highest appreciation of your punctual and efficient services as organist of our church for the long period of 66 years. We hope that you will still be permitted to enjoy the good health which has enabled you to achieve such a unique record. The date means that Sarah was probably the original organist of the church, such things coming into fashion in the 1850s, and her testimonial is appropriately placed where her organ used to be. Slightly later, but just as lovely, indeed moving, on the west wall of the nave is a tablet of 1940 that names and remembers the nineteen members of Pentlow Home Guard (Eighth Essex Division). I don't think I've ever come across one of these before, so I'd be interested to hear of any. Back outside in the churchyard, the large tool shed with integral privy to the north-east of the church was provided as part of William Fawcett's restoration, thoughtfully caring for the physical needs of the parishioners as well as their spiritual ones. Simon Knott, December 2021

 

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