Every Church has a story - St Margaret`s, Ipswich

Just before the `lock down` due to the Coronavirus, I managed an hour in this magnificent church, just off Christchurch Mansion and park. Although the interior has been much modified by our predecessors, along with most in England I am afraid, there are still many feature worth recording and admiring. Firstly, the magnificent exterior.

The church sits on St Margaret's Plain, tucked into a corner of Christchurch Park. The park was the site of the Augustinian Priory, dedicated to Holy Trinity but frequently referred to in old documents as Christchurch. 

One of the buildings opposite the church, now an estate agent, is part of the former monastery range, and its beams are full of delightful carvings.

View from the nave toward the chancel and sanctuary.

St Margaret has the best nave roof in Ipswich, possible one of the best in all Suffolk. It is a fine double-hammer beam affair, resplendent with (albeit restored) original colouring. The angels were dispatched by our friend Dowsing, and replaced, in 1700, by the heraldic shields.

The Royal Arms of Charles II hang at the west end

In front of the tower arch, there is the fine font. The angels hold scrolls, and the writing on the scrolls has been defaced - except on one. This carries the words sal et saliva ('salt and saliva'). This refers to two of the elements of sacramental Baptism. Why did it survive? Perhaps the font had been moved against a pillar during the 16th century post-Reformation reordering, and so this panel was hidden from those who destroyed the others. Perhaps the others carried words illustrative of the other six sacraments, with something else for the eighth scroll. The most badly vandalised angel has been recut into a simple cross, presumably in the 19th century, but it is rather odd - but a memento of turbulent times past in our religious history.

A commemorative window.

The lovely east window

The Fonnereau wall tablet

The story of two of the great Ipswich families (Cobbold and Fonnereau) is certainly fascinating and worth a read. Their respective links to the Cobbold Brewery, Holywells Park and Christchurch Park and Mansion, give some ideas of the many ways both families moulded and helped the town for the better over many years. The plaque above is a memorial to one of the Fonnereau who Ministered here at St Margaret`s.

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Felixstowe Ferry Scavenger Hunt

Suffolk Professional Photographer, Gill Moon, holds monthly walks around areas of her `home turf` in Suffolk. These are free! and are really worth participating in. This one was entitled ` Felixstowe Ferry Scavenger Hunt` and there were about 14 of us taking part. Gill gives us ideas and concepts to photograph while sauntering around a particular area, with lots of helpful advice `to boot`.

Gill has a web site well worth looking at, and where you will find details of all her courses, paid and unpaid, as well as examples of her work..

Having never visited this area of Felixstowe before, we were fascinated by some of the boats being lived in on the estuary. Such as below.

Eccentric might be the word! This was called POTAMUS - look! two hippo.

Between 1805 and 1812 eight Martello Towers were built on the Felixstowe Peninsula as a defence against a possible invasion by Napoleon's forces. These squat, ovoid-shaped brick-built towers were immensely strong and were inspired by an ancient watch tower at Mortella Point in Corsica. Part of a larger network along the east and south coast of England, the towers were named with letters of the alphabet. The Martello Tower 'Q' along South Hill is now converted to a home.

Although the weather was `threatening`, it stayed dry for the 2 hours we were here. I liked the clouds above these cottages. Not in the challenge but appealed to me anyway.

So, the first image is of the day. It is of the days Scavenger Hunt list - but on a rather crumpled piece of paper! As you can see there are 12 in all, and starting from the top of the list we have .....

... BLUE. I think the top one is my favourite of the two.

WATER was the next one, and here I took 2 images. There was no lack of the stuff about here!

LOOKING IN, and the first one was about looking in a window, and the other into a reflection of myself `into` a tunnel. I liked this second one which was in the side of the Martello Tower.

My choice here for UNEXPECTED, was of a rabbit on top of a boat shed. Not real of course!

LINES AND CURVES IN THE SAME IMAGE. I think this one works?

PATTERNS on the hull of a boat.

MULTIPLE USE OF TEXTURES

RELATING TO FISHING - tricky one this in a boatyard full of fishermen and tackle!

WOODEN. Here there were plenty of wooden objects - from wooden posts to junk piles of wood.

DETAIL in the copy permits stickers on the hull of this boat.

OLD - say no more! A really enjoyable time, with a coffee and chat afterward.

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