You’ll find this
church just away from the busy town centre. It is a welcoming and friendly
place of worship
A
war memorial stands inside the church gates which leads up a path to the
church’s North entrance.
In the church wall
leading up to the the North porch I
noticed weather-worn statues and coats of arms in the buttresses
The north porch was
built by Sir William Argentein to celebrate his safe return from the battle of Agincourt
in 1415
The church interior
is quite special, it has arcades dividing the central nave from both the N and S aisles
…I understand that C18 galleries once graced the church adding to it’s seating
capacity
At the rear of the church stands a lovely brass
Eagle lectern from the Victorian era
A wooden reredos which was erected in 1914 stands behind the C17 altar table
There are some fine wall memorials including the notable Bedingfield family who lived in Halesworth from 1595-1705

*Dane* stones dating
from the C9 were found among rubble when the old chancel arch was replaced in
1889, these are possibly from the Saxon
church which previously stood on this site. They were reset on the South side
of the altar near the C19 piscina and sedilia. A C14 piscina is in the North wall of the Sanctuary opposite
The only remaining medieval glass is in the South chancel window and shows the Argentein coat of Arms.
There is a beautiful
Vestry doorway in the North chancel wall
The C15 font is in
the typical East Anglian style with carved lions, shields and woodwoses.
A hatchment for
Richard Assheton who died in 1641 aged 19 while visiting his uncle here in
Halesworth, hangs on the South wall of the chancel near the priest’s door.
The Lady Chapel also
contains a piscina in it’s South wall, and near the altar is a fine modern
statue of Madonna and child by Peter Eugene Ball which was sculpted from
driftwood.
Over the years the Jacobean pulpit has stood in a few different positions in the
church and would have originally had a sounding board
There are
ledger-stones in the Lady Chapel floor for Sir William Argentein and his wife
Margery (sadly now minus their brasses) Very few church brasses have survived,. Other ledger-stones can be seen at the West
end of the church near the font, including one for William Carey d.1686 a
benefactor of this church.
The first director of
the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was Sir William Jackson Hooker 1785-1865 who
had lived in Halesworth between 1809-1820. His son Sir Joseph Hooker later
followed in his father’s footsteps in this capacity

Over the outside of
the South porch door is a lovely old sundial with a Woodwose overhead
This is a lovely
church to visit with many more items of interest than I have been able to
mention here.
The fine West door >
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