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Walton was once the village
of which Felixstowe
was a fishing hamlet. But the gargantuan
child has swollen and engulfed its
mother, and Walton is just a western
suburb of Felixstowe now. Indeed, it is
almost an inner-city; the 19th century
terraces of Walton High Street are just a
few hundred yards from Hamilton Square in
the middle of Felixstowe, and this church
is closer to the centre of modern
Felixstowe than the medieval Felixstowe
parish church is. However, there is one
remarkable fact about the parish of
Walton which should not go unnoticed by
anyone interested in the history of
Suffolk Christianity; it was probably the
Dumnoc where the Burgundian St
Felix came ashore in 631. He had come to
convert the heathen English, and was the
first Bishop of East Anglia. His mission
was established in Walton
Castle; Walton,
therefore, was the site of East Anglia's
first cathedral. Walton's
modern livelihood comes from Felixstowe
Docks, and as such it is a 20th century
prosperity. In earlier years, this was a
poor old place, like so much of the
coast, and St Mary was completely
derelict by the mid-19th century. The
tower had fallen like those at Alderton
and Bawdsey
across the Deben, and St Mary was given a
going over even more thorough than that
of the two Trimley
churches further along the High Street.
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What
we see here, then, is virtually all Frederick
Barnes' rebuilding of 1857-67, and the work seems
to have been carried through in two stages, the
first replacing tower and aisle, the second
chancel and west end of nave. There are remains
of the medieval building to the south of the
tower, but none you'd get terribly excited about.
The original plan seems to have been kept to,
with a tower on the south side of the nave only
later added to with a south aisle. Barnes was
also at work on the rather wayward St Andrew,
Melton at this time. Integrating remains
of the former church seems to have kept him on
track a bit more here.
| The inside is similarly
wholly Victorianised, as you'd expect.
The font and brass on the wall are about
the only survivors, and much more
interesting in any case is the excellent
20th century glass. One window depicts
Christ calming the waters, and in a nice
touch St Peter in the boat is accompanied
by a lifeboat man in oilskin jacket and
sou'wester, believed to be the only such
depiction in England. Rather less good is
Paul Quail's nativity on the other side
of the church, but perhaps the best
modern window is hidden away in the
vestry below the tower, depicting St
Cecilia and St George. This
evangelical community has kitted out its
happy, friendly building for modern
worship, with carpets and modern chairs.
I'm sure St Felix would thoroughly
approve. Walton
Castle, where he
established his see, had been built by
the Romans as a great coastal fortress,
like the more famous example over the
Norfolk border at Burgh Castle. If you'd
like to see Walton Castle though, you'd
better bring some waterproofs, and even
an oilskin jacket and sou'wester will not
be enough, since it now lies half a mile
off Old Felixstowe, under the grey North
Sea.
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Simon Knott, January 2012
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