You can climb up into Hawkedon from neighbouring Hartest and Stansfield, and when you do you find a few ancient houses and a pub scattered about a wide village green that forms the highest point in the parish. And right in the middle of the green is St Mary. It's walled churchyard is surrounded by the green on all four sides, and it is the only church in Suffolk where this is so. One of the finest sights the county has to offer is on a summer's evening, approaching the green from Hartest, and watching the sun sink low behind St Mary's tower.
The building is a fairly typical rural west Suffolk church. Take away the 14th century tower, and all you have is a simple Norman church augmented by a chancel and elaborated with later windows; but there are no aisles, no clerestory. The windows, and the delicious south porch, are a reminder that this was the wealthiest and most populous part of England in the 15th century. It is an intimate space that you let yourself into, full of surprises.
St Mary is set in an area where the Victorians were very enthusiastic restorers. To be sure, this is because so many of west Suffolk's churches were derelict by the early 19th century, and the restorations are mostly good, Rede and Hartest. both being cases in point. The first surprise at Hawkedon then is quite how much of the medieval interior has survived.
Beneath a beautiful, curved early 20th century gallery, what is probably the original Norman font is one of Suffolk's best. It is also rather unusual, being unsymmetrical. It may be that it was once square, and has had two corners sawn off. I don't think it was designed to be an irregular hexagon in plan. On it are carved primitive designs that might represent a sheep's horns. four of the five supporting pillars have been replaced, but the most easterly is original. It must have been very dramatic before restoration.
Now lost to us unfortunately is the St Christopher wallpainting that the Victorians uncovered; it has almost completely faded, and mere glimpses of it can be seen beside the hatchment that now hangs there. Opposite, there is a vast royal arms on the north wall. The artist seems very keen to have asserted the masculinity of the two supporters. Interestingly, the arms themselves are Stuart - but this claims to be from 170 years later, and George II. Clearly, it is a reused set of Charles II arms, the C cunningly fashioned into a G.
Turning east, there is plenty more to excite and interest. First, there are the bench ends, similar in shape and scale to those at Withersfield. One shows a defaced wild man sticking out his tongue while two griffins beneath salute him. On another are three bearded oriental men wearing hoods (the Three Wise Men, perhaps?) and a third shows an exquisitely carved woman in front of three ears of corn. The most curious shows two lions apparently supporting a man who has what appears to be a thick rope around one of their legs.
“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. There is also a Church Micro Stats page found via the Bookmark list”