AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE FRIENDS OF ST PETER

To assist the Rector and Parochial Church Council of Hepworth in…

I.    The restoration and maintenance of the Church

II    The improvement of the fittings and furnishings of the church where necessary, so that it may become more and more a source of inspiration and a house of devotion.

REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS COMPLETED TO DATE

Roof 1994                                  £10,000
Windows 1995-97                        £6,000
Porch buttresses 1997                  £2,000
New heating system 1994            £5,000
Porch redecorated 1996-97
New hymnboards 1992
New embroidered kneelers 1995
New staging 1997

Still to come

In this Centenary of the restoration after the fire we hope to complete:

Restorations of further windows and installation of new stained glass
Redecoration of the interior of the church
Restoration of the porch gates
Installation of a safety hand-rail at the entrance to the churchyard
More embroidered kneelers and pew cushions
Restoration of Victorian alter furnishings.

Long term possibilities

Floodlighting the Church tower
Restoration of the bells and bell frame

MUSICAL AND OTHER EVENTS HELD IN HEPWORTH CHURCH

    Longslade Consort 1990
    Summer Festival Organ and Recital & Historical Display 1991
    Bury St Edmunds Gospel Male Voice Choir 1995
    Harp and Voice, Margaret Knight 1997


A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST PETER’S


There was a church here at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086. The present structure dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries. The chief material from which the church is built is flint. Cut stone dressings are used for the buttresses, arches and windows.

The Nave windows are in the Perpendicular style, and the Chancel windows are in the Decorated style.

When the old thatched roof burned down in 1898, the new oak double hammer beam roof was installed, with its richly carved pendants, in the characteristic mediaeval Suffolk style.

Among the fittings which escaped the fire were the fine old oak door, and the late 14th century font cover. This is an octagonal pinnacled spire of oak 12’6" high, elaborately decorated with tabernacle work of arches and tracery.

There is a attractive stained glass window in the chancel showing the angel announcing the Resurrection of Christ to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. The shell emblem of the Methold family, who lived at Hepworth House, can be seen in the cloak and halo of one of the women. The same device appears on a shield in the little window on the south side.

There are five bells. The Tenor bell is the oldest, dating from about 1470.

The church’s Registers date from 1688, and are now kept at the Suffolk Record Office.

The Patron has been Kings College Cambridge since 1790.

The list of past Rectors of the Parish goes back to just after the Norman Conquest.

FROM THE RECTOR

Dear Friend

St Peter’s Church has served the village of Hepworth for over a thousand years. Over the centuries it has been gradually enlarged and embellished. As we look at its sold walls and buttresses, its hefty medieval door and its soaring windows, we can sense the care and devotion that has gone into building and maintaining it over the generations.

It may not be one of the famous showpieces of East Anglia, but it has a solidity and peacefulness which speaks to us just as strongly.

Whether you visit this building frequently for its weekly services, or only occasionally for a wedding, a funeral, or perhaps a concert, I hope you will agree that such an ancient and beautiful building is an asset which deserves to be looked after.

I warmly invite you to become a Friend of St Peter’s and take your part in caring for this wonderful place.

Yours sincerely,

John Fulton.