St Margaret, Shottisham, Suffolk
Shottisham is a lovely village right at the heart of the Bawdsey Peninsula, an idyllic spot. The Peninsula is relatively well-served for pubs, but the one here is generally thought of as one of the best by people who know about that kind of thing. The church is all of its 19th century rebuild, like its near neighbours Alderton and Sutton, and there is a lovely view of it from another Victorianised church at Hemley, on the far side of the Deben. The church always sticks in my mind as one of the dozen or so churches in the Ipswich area which were Hakewilled in the 19th Century - local architect Edward Hakewill coming along with his pencil and pad, and tongue sticking everso slightly out of the corner of his mouth, and finally deciding that, yes, what this church needs is a gloomy north aisle. I wonder what he would make of what they did to his aisle at Rushmere St Andrew, his local church. But actually, the rest of the church is lovely with its brick floors and faded High Church fittings. It's a nice village, too.
I remember coming here some ten years ago in October as they were setting the place up for the Harvest Festival. These Festivals were introduced by Tractarian-minded Rectors a little over 150 years ago, and should not really take place until the end of the first week in October, when all is safely gathered in ere the winter storms begin. There seems to be a fashion to move them forward to early September, when the days are still relatively light, and the insides of churches reasonably warm. I was glad that had not happened here, and they were still doing it properly.
Some parishes treat Harvest Festivals as a straw to clutch, one of the Blessed Trinity, along with Remembrance Day and Christmas, when outsiders might be attracted into Church, but I got the impression here that St Margaret's is a busy little place, and the parishioners were doing it for themselves, which is also just as it should be.
The best feature of the inside is a fine roodloft stair set into a window, as at Whepstead and Barningham. This one has a curious piscina at its foot, to serve a nave altar. Another fascinating detail is that the octagonal Purbeck marble font, on its modern arcade, is set on what appears to be an altar mensa slab. There is also a charming brass set in the nave floor. It remembers Rose Glover, wife of the Rector, who died in 1612. Charmingly, the brass is incised with a picture of a rose and the verse As wither'd rose its fragrant sent retains, so being dead, her vertue still remains. Shee is not dead, but chang'd. The good ner dies, but rather shee is sun-like, sett to rise.
Curiously, the dedication of this church was also given in error to the church at Chattisham, on the other side of Ipswich, after 18th century antiquarians confused them; the CofE revival of dedications in the 19th century failed to rectify this mistake.
