St Mary
Cavendish, Suffolk
From the west and south, the combination of village green, cottages and church at Cavendish is perfect, and makes one of the loveliest and most famous English villages scenes.
The west tower has a 13th century door with dog tooth moulding, and there are also two distinctive turrets at the east end of the nave.
The porch is 14th century with a finely carved stone head at the centre of the vault and stone carving including Green Men around the 15th century oak door. Over the porch is an 18th century sundial on which is inscribed 'Go about your business'.
The interior is light and spacious, with graceful nave arcades divided from the clerestory above by a well preserved string course with carved figures and foliage. From between the arches a variety of medieval heads look down: kings, queens, merchants and perhaps even a jester. The 15th century chancel had fallen into disrepair by the 17th century but was rebuilt in 1617. From this time are the clergy stalls and the fine altar rail, and the benefactors who paid for the work are commemorated in the east window.
William Dowsing, the famous Puritan zealot who went from church to church in East Anglia in the 1640s looking for and destroying what he thought of as 'superstitious' and/or 'popish' objects and images, claimed that he 'brake down a 1,000 pictures superstitious' at Clare on 6th January 1643. It is unlikely that there were '1000 pictures' to destroy here, but he did break most of the stained glass. Not, however, such surviving pieces as those with heraldic images in them, as these did not count as either popish or superstitious.
The brass eagle lectern here is one of the few medieval lecterns of this type to have survived the Reformation and is an exceptionally fine example. On display nearby is a curious beer jug called 'The Gotch' which holds 32 pints and was presented to the bell ringers in 1729. The unusual 17th century gallery was once a private pew and is now incorporated into St John's Chapel.
