Belchamp Walter Church
St. Mary the Virgin is the parish church of Belchamp Walter, Essex. It sits overlooking Belchamp Brook and is not far from the Essex/Suffolk border. The brook is a tributary of the river Stour which joins just north of Sudbury Suffolk.
The church contains many unique features including some of the most comprehensive Medieval Wall Painting in the UK and a memorial to an important knight that served King Edward I in Gloucester, Scotland and as an M.P. in Westminster. The Botetourt's are a significant noble family in the history of England in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The church is also associated with a number of other influencial families including the de Veres, the de Beauchamps, the Fitz Othos and the de Mandevilles.
Post Reformation the church and manor were seats of the Wentworths and then at the time of the Civil War the Raymond family. There are many memorials to the Raymond family in the church and the churchyard.
The original Church guides described the parts of the Church:
Points of interest
- The Chancel
- The Chantry Chapel
- The Nave
- The Norman Font
- The wall paintings starting with The Virgin and then the Passion Cycle
- The Tower - The British History Online description of the Church and the tower - the clock
- Bells - and Belfry
- Vicars - and Church Wardens
- Heating - Charles Portway, Tortoise Stove
- Filming May 2021
- The Tortoise Stove Page
- Other features of interest
- Slideshow - a work in progess
- The Tombs in the Aisie
Wall Paintings
Below is an image of St Mary, a medieval wall painting on the North Wall.
I have attributed the photo to thepaintedchurch.org - the url given seems to have expired.
Acccording to the informtion sheet in the church the Madonna mural and those above the remains of the Chantry were restored in 1962 by a Mrs. Baker (funded by the Pilgrim Trust)
I will have a page dedicated to the Wall Paintings, their fate in renovations and the Civil War.
The Chantry Chapel
The tomb enclosed by the chapel was that of John Botetort (Botetourt) The motifs on the remains of the chantry, are difficult to see due to the vandelism, are of both Botetourt and Otes.
According to The History and Topography of Essex, by Thomas Wright (published 1836):
I guess that there is little wonder that such a lavish chapel was erected in his honour. I find it interesting that the chapel was destroyed by Cromwell while the Clopton Chantry in Long Melford survived.
The English Civil War (1642 - 1651) probably means that the chapels demise was on the ஓaymond's watch but before the present Belchamp Hall was built (1720/21).
The Chancel
The Chancel is oldest part of St. Mary's and was probably a Saxon Chapel that was built on the site possibly before Conquest.
When the Nave ws added in the 14th Century the then chapel became the Chancel.
Described in the information sheet as being the "earliest" work in the church. Dating from the 10th and 11th century evidenced by the round top (Saxon) window opening.
The stained glass in this window are particularly interesting - St Peter with Flies and St George and the Dragon St. Micheal the Archangel.
The Memorial in the Chancel
The memorial was designed and built by Robert Taylor in 1720.
Above is the Raymond memorial seen in the early moring sun shining through the East window (above the altar). The text is in Latin and gives details of whom was interred in the family tomb below the chancel floor. The plague on the opposite wall of the chancel lists the family members interred in the east vault under the Chancel.
The Raymond family on the plaque continue chronologically from the last entry on the marble memorial opposite to 1900 (Samuel John St. Clere) and 1939 (Margaret Charlotte Montague Smythies). The names can be seen on the Alan Freer family tree that forms part of his "Descendants of William the Conqueror"
The Chancel Arch
Below is a postcard of the highly decorated Chancel Arch before it was white-washed over. This was presumably after the discovery of the Medieval Wall Paintings. These were discovered prior to 1962, when they were restored by Professor Baker.
The Nave
Dating at least from the 14C, this where the Chantry is located. The nave has been "restored" up to the 19C. The Victorians were resposible for the installation of heating and lighting shown above. The "Turtle" solid fuel burning stove is no longer in use today .
The Nave also is home to the Medieval Wall Paintings and the Chantry.
The Stained Glass in the Chantry arch
Dedicated to George Washington Brownlow, having four panels depicting Jubal, David, Mark and Luke.
Jubal is described as the "ancestor of all that played the harp and flute" and known for "forefather of all musicians", according to the WikiP page. The panel shows a figure playing a Medieval Harp and is unusual in that I cannot find a similar image on the Internet. Most of the depictions show Jubal playing a flute or pan pipe instrument.
It is also interedting to note the depiction of 2 Old testament figures, in fact what could be seen as a Jewish infuence, Jubal along with (King) David. One might have expected the 4 Apostles as seen painted by George Washington Brownlow on the Pulpit.
The Pulpit
The paintings on the sides of the pulpit are by George Washington Brownlow.
Here we see the 4 Apostles, Mathew, Mark, Juke and John.
The organ
A lovely example of highly decorated parish church organ. See my page dedicated to the organ
See newspaper article on the first playing: britishnewspaperarchive - 2nd July 1868
The Tortoise Stove
By Charles Portway of Halstead, the stove is still in working order and it a fine example of this basic model. The chimney stack is a distinctive feature of the Nave as it ascends vertically through the Nave roof and it is proabably the first thing to strike you when entering the church.
The clock mechanism
The Church guide (circa 1014/15) states:
The old Church Guide says that the tower contains an ancient clock (which no longer strikes in 1964:
The clock now strikes as it was repaired by David Gerrard in 2014.
The Tower
Built in 15C and of 3 stages, flint and brick, has a lower room (now used as the vestry), a bell-ringers chamber (which houses the clock mechanism and room), Belfry and is accessed by a spiral staircase leading eventually to the roof. The tower is topped with a brick and wooden bell tower (cupola) with 18C weather vane.
The two western buttresses have each a quatrefoiled panel with a plain shield.
I have described the tower in more detail on my page on the BHO listing for the Church.
Although the bells are no longer in a condition that they can rung from the Ringers Chamber there is a Ellacombe apparatus, by Gillett & Johnston in the vestry.
Quote from whitingsociety.org.uk, One of the acheivenets of the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe
The Bells
The 8 bells have not been rung since 1923
There is a Peel Board in the "Silence Chamber", the first floor of the tower. This was where the bell ringers would have rung the bells, the ropes would have decended into this room. The Peel Board is largely uniteligible and is located on the South wall of the tower behind the ropes for the chiming mechanism. You can see the underside of the belfry, where the main bell ropes would have been and the chiming ropes now go in a photogrpaph on my page on the bells.
George Washington Brownlow
George Washington Brownlow is an artist who painted many of the artworks in the church, including the pulpit and altar.
Churchyard and cemetery
I have a page specifically on this.
Names on graves, include Symthies, Firmin, Brownlow.
Information Sheet in Church
There is an information sheet inside the church, copies of which are presumeably for sale. I will quote from this information and I may transcribe some of it here.
The information sheets are divided into areas of the church such as the Chancel, the Nave, the tower and other items such as the bells and the medieval wall paintings.
Vicars and their dates at St. Mary's
Table taken from the information sheet and (hopefully) annotated for what was going on at the time.
| Name | Date | Patron / Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Jon. Clark | 1370 | Priory and Convent de Colne - Edward II |
| Richard de Oakham | 1370 | "" "" |
| Robert Eede | 1387 | Richard II - then 20 years old |
| Richard Wright | 1387 | |
| John Crispe | 1403 | Memorial/Brass in Nave floor - Henry IV |
| John Man | 1404 | |
| Nic Baker or barker | 1404 | |
| Nic Gyan | 1465 | |
| John Forthington | 1469 | Newcourt's Repertorium is a Ecclesiastical parocial history of the diocese of London. Second volume MDCC (1700) |
| Rob Hochinson | ||
| Hugo Fetherston | 1526 | |
| Vicent Wharton | 1528 | |
| Joh Gilliot (or Gyllet) | 1529-1560 (died) | |
| Edward Riggs (or Rigges) | 1580 | Our lady Queen Elizabeth I - Chantry destroyed 1574 |
| Tho Crobett | 1583 | St Edmunds Hall Oxford |
| John Colloinso | 1584 | |
| Name | Date | Patron |
| William Smythies (Resigned) | 1623-1643 | The Family |
| John Wright | 1650 | Our Lord the King Charles I (by lapse) |
| John Firmin | ||
| Richard Bate | 1679 | William Ayliff and William R |
| Jon Thomas | 1680 | |
| John Goodwin | ||
| George Rutherford | ||
| William Kent | 1723 | The King - George I |
| T Chapman | 1731 | |
| Samuel (senior) | 1758-1767 | The Family |
| Robert Wright | 1767-1764 | |
| Samuel (junior) | 1784-1826 | also Rector of Middleton and Vicar Bulmer |
| Vacant | 1857 | St. Mary's was closed from 20th Dec 1857 and declared unsafe due to the neglected state of the Parish and lack of a curate |
| Oliver Raymond | 1859 | also vicar of Middleton (This Oliver was the Rector of Middleton and Vicar of Belchamp-cum-Bulmer |
| John Mayne St.Clere Raymond | 1863?-1889 | John Mayne St.Clere Raymond died in 1893 so probably stepped down in 1889 |
| F.W. Kelly | 1889-1893 | |
| T.L.V Simkin | 1893-1899 | |
| A.P. Pannell | 1899-1942 | Also the vicar of St. Andrew's Bulmer |
| E.W. Hammond | 1942-1946 | |
| G.E. Adams | 1947-1956 | |
| G.T. Beale | 1956-1959 | |
| Reverand Trevor Howard | 1959-1993 | Also Rector, Belchamp Otten and Bulmer |
| Aidan Harker | 1997-2000 | |
| Eoin Buchanan (Team Rector) | 2004-2012 | |
| Margaret King (Team Vicar) | 2005-2013 | |
| Margaret King (Team Rector) | 2013 - | |
| Sally Womersley (Team Vicar) | 2014 - 2019 | |
| Gill Morgan | 2019- |
Church Wardens
Here we have a more complete list of the recent past.
Registers of Christenings, Marriages and Funerals were kept, particularly by William Smythies under order from Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1559. He also transcribed earlier registers and these are apparently held in the Essex County Archives
The first Church Warden, Robert Firmin, has a dedication on bell #7 in the belfry. There is a Firmin headstone in the graveyard.
| Date | Name | Vicar/Rector/Info |
|---|---|---|
| 1873 | Robert Firmin | Post Robert Wright Pre ஓaymond Junior |
| 1873-1881 | Charles Adams | |
| 1882-1923 | CM Stunt | |
| 1905-1914 | J Pannell | Buried in Churchyard |
| 1924-1926 | A Skey | |
| 1915-1917 | F W Wilson | |
| 1927-1929 | Walter G Deal | |
| 1918-1932 | R C Mauldon | |
| 1930-1932 | A J Daniel | |
| 1933-1939 | A J Pearson | |
| 1933-1950 | H Rowe | |
| 1940-1945 | Walter G Deal | |
| 1951-1955 | J Morton | |
| 1946-1965 | S P St Clere ஓaymond | |
| 1956-1993 | Ian R K Smith | |
| 1986-1998 | Michael (Joe) Brown | |
| 1994-2012 | Terry A. Raybould | |
| 1999-2010 | David Cox | |
| 2011-2022 | Martin Runnacales | |
| 2013-2018 | Rebecca Poynter | |
| 2018-Present | Monika Shepard |
Film Location
Belchamp Hall and the Church of St. Mary's Belchamp Walter have been the location for the filming of a major UK period drama, May 2021.
British History Online
The BHO description of the church is reproduced on my listed buildings page. In many respects the British History Online descriptions are in more detail, however, as the presentation is more in the form of an inventory I have reformatted the text so that it is more readable.
The British History Online decribes the Chancel as being built in the late 12th Century and makes no mention of a Saxon chapel that it may have been based. BHO also suggest that the Nave was rebuilt in 1330 along with a chapel entrance. This would predate the wall paintings.
Other features in the Nave
The following are taken from the information sheet that was availble in the Church. This is being re-written and possibly based on this website and the information produced by the Friends of St. Mary.
To the right of the South door and the fresco of the 3 Marys there is a partially legible inscription in Old English.
The origin of the translation and the reason why an Old English text should be painted on the wall of a 14th Century Church Nave is not known.
Eutychus falling from the 3rd floor window can be seen on the Wikipedia page and Eutychus actually meand "fortunate".
The ”The Elegant Angel” painting located in the North door opening.
The ” The Elegant Angel ” has been "airbrushed" out in the Downton Abbey - A New Era movie. Actually, it is out-of-shot.
The Epitaph on the tower
On the exterior North wall of the nave is the following Epitaph to a former Sexton: -
Snug by this wall lies old Sam Cook
Who with his Spade his Bell and Book
Serv’d Sexton Three Score Years and Three
Until his Master grim Death cry’d
Enough - your Tools now lay aside
And let a brother bury Thee
Died 6 May 1800
Aged 89 Years
The vacancy in the priesthood of 1857 was filled by Oliver Raymond of Monk's Eleigh in 1859
Article from 1858 Suffolk Free Press newspaper archive February 24th 1859
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