Tag: Crowfield

Richard and I couldn’t visit the interior of this church as a Christening was taking place, but it’s a quite stunning building and the churchyard also contains the grave of Roy Hudd.

The church is located in the village of Crowfield which developed in proximity to Stone Street, an ancient Roman road that connected Coddenham to Peasenhall. The church was central to the original heart of the village, but later development along Stone Street has left the church as a little isolated. The church here was redeveloped to become a chapel of ease in the fourteenth century, acting as a subsidiary church under the jurisdiction of the nearby St. Mary’s Church in Coddenham.

It’s the chancel today that is perhaps the most noteworthy, dating back to the early fifteenth century and it’s the only wooden timber framed church in Suffolk. There was a major remodelling of the church in 1862 and the nave was substantially altered, with the chancel being reworked and partly reconstructed. This Victorian rebuilding, which has arguably partly ruined the church but also likely saved it, was funded by Lady Middleton as a memorial to her late husband, Sir William Fowle Middleton.

The church has never had a tower, but it does have a rather beautiful bell turret and this was added as part of the 1860s reconstruction of the church. Richard and I are hoping to return to the church to see the architectural treasures that might be located within and to have a closer look at the exterior of the building.

This is the sole Commonwealth War Grave at the beautiful church of All Saints in Crowfield and it commemorates the life of James Wright.

James was born on 29 March 1923, the son of Jarvis Wright and Lillian Wright. The family were listed in the 1939 register, something that seems quite poignant when there’s a death, with Jarvis, Lillian and James living together, along with Mabel Buckles (nee Wright). Jarvis ran the Bell Inn at Crowfield and he was also a farmer, with James helping out on the farm.

On the matter of the Bell Inn, this unfortunately closed in the 1960s and is now used for residential purposes, retaining the name ‘The Old Bell’.

James was a Aircraftman 2nd Class in Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 1724940. He died on 5 May 1943 at the age of 20 following an air crash near Milton in Hampshire. He was in an Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft (DR940, RAF 1622 Anti Air Co-operation Flight) which crashed and also killed the pilot Norman Reilly. There’s a strong likelihood that James’s parents were told about his death when standing behind that door at the pub, with only the limited consolation that his body was able to be recovered home to Crowfield as unlike many aircraft it didn’t crash over enemy territory.

Whilst waiting for a checkpoint to open on the LDWA 100, Richard and I visited All Saints Church in Crowfield to have a little look around. We weren’t able to go inside the church as there was a Christening taking place, but we took the opportunity to have a look around the churchyard.

Roy Hudd OBE (1936–2020) was a British entertainer who was known for his work as a comedian, actor, author and historian of music hall traditions. Born in Croydon, he began his career as a stand-up comedian and Butlin’s Redcoat in the late 1950s, going on to become a leading authority on variety entertainment and serving as president of the British Music Hall Society. He rose to national prominence through his long-running BBC Radio 2 comedy series The News Huddlines (1975–2001), he was widely recognised on television for his role as Archie Shuttleworth in Coronation Street, as well as appearances in One Foot in the Grave and Common as Muck. On stage, he earned acclaim for performances in musicals such as Underneath the Arches, winning a Laurence Olivier Award, and he was also an accomplished author.

Roy Hudd and his wife had lived in Crowfield for some time and in February 2014 he unveiled the village’s commemorative sign which is a wooden carving which includes the church. He attended numerous local events, fetes and following his death on 15 March 2020 he was buried at the church. This rather impressive and distinctive headstone was erected at the grave just a few weeks ago and it is certainly eye-catching and its presentation is designed to look like a theatrical poster.