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This blissfully serene
graveyard sits, tree-surrounded, in the
backroads of north-east Suffolk. The
church is open every day, making it a
wonderful goal for a pilgrimage, or quiet
spot to rest for a passing stranger. And
it contains one of the great treasures of
medieval Suffolk, as we shall see. The
chunky tower and long chancel are rather
deceptive, since this is actually a very
small church; it is basically a
single-cell Norman church that has been
enhanced. At the time of White's
Directory in 1844 the church was
thatched. Very few Norman features
survive in the fabric now, although there
are windows from just about every period.
The most striking external feature is
probably the Tudor-rebuilt south doorway,
which retains its original door, although
it is now blocked off within. The doorway
is barely four feet six inches high, but
on the inside it has a tall Norman
archway.
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Weston is blessed with one of the
thirteen surviving Seven Sacrament fonts in
Suffolk. None of the others in the county, even Badingham, are in
such a tiny church, and consequently it feels
rather as if the church has been built around the
font. It sits on a very high Maltese cross which
is probably the original, but appears to have
been recut - the shaft to the font does too. The
Rector tells me that the height of the font and
its narrowness makes baptising a baby in it a
rather perilous experience. Although the panels
are badly mutilated, this font isn't in the
terrible condition that Mortlock suggests,
and all except the Last Rites panel are easily
decodable.
 
 
   
With the possible exception of the
one at Melton, the
Weston font is probably the least known of the
Suffolk series. And yet, this church has a number
of other has many other fascinating details. The
bench ends are probably by the same artist as the
ones up the road at Redisham. At the
east end on the south side is a very fine
bat-winged dragon, and the south side also
features a now-headless friar preaching from a
pulpit - his text hangs beside him. But it is the
carvings on the north side that are particularly
fascinating. What appears to be the back half of
a lion balances a medieval cooking pot on his
back. A similar carving survives in more complete
form at Redisham, where it is revealed as a
dragon, who is leaning back to lick out the pot.
Mortlock suggests that it might illustrate the
legend in the bestiary about a group of sailors
shipwrecked on an island. They light a fire to
cook food, whereupon the island awakes and shakes
them off - it was a whale all the time. As
Mortlock wryly observes, the medieval carver here
had never seen a whale, but he knew very well
what a dragon was.
Also on this side
is a stubby little post-mill, with a
stairway leading up into it.
Unsurprisingly, over the centuries it has
lost its sails. When Pevsner came this
way in the late 1950s he found this bench
up in the chancel. The only bench end
remaining of note up there now is one of
a priest at a prayer desk, a bit like the
one at Stowlangtoft.
Not content with a fine font and bench
ends, Weston also has some surviving
fragments of wall paintings. These are on
the south side, and show Christ's entry
into Jerusalem, rather like the ones
nearby at North
Cove. Underneath is a
later improving text, added by the
Stuarts perhaps to encourage us all.
There are two more of these elsewhere in
the church. A roundel of continental
glass depicts Christ in the garden at
Gethsemane.
One Stuart survival
that is remarkable is one of Suffolk's
only three surviving James II royal arms;
as is often the case, the lion and
unicorn are undoubtedly masculine. Rather
paling into insignificance opposite is a
very primitive decalogue, probably done
locally towards the end of the
seventeenth century. It bears
examination, if only because of the
calligraphy.
This simple, pretty
church is full of interest, and deserves
more visitors. If you come here, don't
miss the gravestone that Mortlock notes
in the north-west corner of the
churchyard. It is to five Sarbutt
children, who died within two weeks of
each other in 1896. They were probably
descendants of George Sarbeth, who was
church clerk here half a century earlier.
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Simon Knott, December 2009
  
  
  
   
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