At first sight, the arrangement of the church is a bit odd. This is one of the 14th Century south-east towers commonly found in the Ipswich area, and the nave to the north of it was probably contemporary with it. But a small, low south aisle was built a century later, running eastwards of it, and the effect now is of a tiny church with a huge north aisle. In fact, there is a 19th century north aisle beyond the nave, the work of Diocesan architect Richard Phipson; it has a rather awkward juxtaposition with the nave at the west end, with an angled doorway. The nave west window appears to be made of terracotta. The best feature of the exterior is the clerestory, somewhat hidden by the south aisle, but picked out beautifully in red brick.
The interior is almost entirely Victorian, again the work of Richard Phipson. Although it now has a fairly rustic and simple Low Church feel to it, which is very pleasant, a glance at the chancel shows that Phipson fitted it out for the kind of mystical, incense-led 19th Century High Church worship which he loved, and for which his St Mary le Tower in Ipswich is the crowning moment in Suffolk. Most of the fittings are now gone, but the sense of the past remains.
Holbrook church contains one major pre-Victorian survival. This is the monument to one of the arch-villains of the English Reformation. It is a huge memorial at the east end of the south aisle. Sir John Clenche is the figure above his daughter-in-law on the huge memorial in the south aisle. Clenche was High Sheriff of Suffolk, but is more famous, and more notorious, for being the judge who sentenced Saint Margaret Clitherow. In 1586, Margaret Clitherow, the middle-class wife of a York butcher, was accused of treason against the state. This was a catch-all charge designed to root out Catholicism; she was told, as all martyrs of the time were, that the charges would be dropped if she renounced Catholicism, and conformed to the Anglican church, this she refused to do and she was sentanced.
When I went to visit this Church to research placing this cache the Church was open, so please do go and have a look round.
This cache is not at the listed co-ordinates......you need to find a couple of answers first. It's not intended to be tricky, I just thought that this is a Church that is worthy of a Church Micro. It's a good place to rest some weary feet!
David Anderson Died June 199A....His special verse was Isaiah 44:B1
A. Leggatt.....Police constable of this village.....195C - 196D
Final co-ords are.....
N 051 58.9AB E 001 09.7(C-4)(D-8)
There is no need to enter any private property, the cache is located along a Public Footpath.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here