Monument record SKT 015 - Church of St Peter and St Mary (& St Paul) (Med)

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Summary

St Peter & Paul.

Location

Grid reference Centred TM 0492 5868 (98m by 93m)
Map sheet TM05NW
Civil Parish STOWMARKET, MID SUFFOLK, SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (3)

Full Description

St Peter & Paul. Listed in 1086 in Domesday Book. Was mother church of huge vill of Thorney (including Stowmarket, Stowupland, Newton, Gipping and Dagworth). Following demolition of St Mary's (SKT Misc) about 1546, St Peter and Paul took over the dedication and dropped St Paul. Church. "Externally all Decorated, except for porches, the tower, and the clerestory. W tower, called `new' in a will of 1453... S arcade was remodelled Perpendicular... (S1).
Spire blown down in Great Storm of early C18 (?1704), it had only been rebuilt in 1674 (S3).
1875: E window destroyed in gun-cotton factory explosion (S4).
January 1990: Watching brief on trench & soakaways to N of church, see (S2). The medieval belfry in the tower has been tree-ring dated to c.1363 and must be contemporary with the tower, which has windows with Decorated leaf-and- stem tracery. The original timber and lead spire was rebuilt in 1674.(Tree- ring date, for timber re-used as joists of c.1672/3). This broke off in the great storm of November 1703 (event recorded in Daniel Defoe's `The Storm', 1704). Rebuilt in 1712 (tree-ring date of 1712 for spire ribs and struts)(S5).
Scarfe records this as a probable Domesday Minster (S6)

2005: A Ground Penetrating radar survey was undertaken at St Peter and St Marys Church identifiying one large, strong anomalous area which is suggestive of a substantial underground arch with associated structural remains. One smaller weaker anomaly also exists which may pertain to a vault style feature (S7).

Sources/Archives (8)

  • <S1> Bibliographic reference: Pevsner N & Radcliffe E. 1974. The Buildings of England: Suffolk. Pevsner N & Radcliffe E, The Buildings of England: Suffolk, 1975 ed, 443-444.
  • <M1> Unpublished document: Suffolk Archaeological Service. Parish Files. Parish file: (S2), extract of Daniel Defoe Collection, copy of (S5).
  • <S2> (No record type): SAU, Newman J, site report, SKT 015, January 1990.
  • <S3> (No record type): Defoe Daniel (London 1704), The Storm: or a collection of the most remarkable casualties& disasters .
  • <S4> (No record type): Goult W, A Survey of Suffolk Parish History: E Suffolk I-Y, 1990.
  • <S5> (No record type): Howard, R E et al, Nottingham Univ Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory Results, Vernacular Architecture 25, .
  • <S6> Bibliographic reference: Dymond D and Martin E. 1999. An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (revised edition). Scarfe N, 'Domeday Churches', 3rd ed, 1999, map 21.
  • <S7> Unpublished document: Elks, D.. 2005. Geophysical Survey Report - All Saints' Church, Shelley and St Peter and St Marys' Church, Stowmarket.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Oct 20 2022 12:57PM

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