St Mary, Stratford St Mary

   Back to our jaunt into Essex the other week.  I was visually struck by the church of St Mary, at Stratford St Mary, standing at it does on the northern edge of the Colne valley at the point where the n-s road meets the old Roman road to Colchester.  It is a genuine Late Medieval church but given a thorough restoration at the end of the 19th century like an illegal steroid injection.  Just look at the tracery in the north porch windows, like something out of the Medieval Holy Roman Empire. The inscriptions in the flushwork are genuine, and like that at Long Melford hint at contemporary high levels of literacy - otherwise why bother if nobody could read?  Inside wasn't at all unpleasant; lofty Late Perpendicular Gothic, although everything as been given a thorough re-tooling.  However the nave roof looked pretty, and pretty genuine, and there were some equally pretty patterned glass in the south chancel chapel and painted screens.  I suspect who ever painted the screens also painted the mural on the north wall of the chancel.  The south side is blank.  Pity.

   Beside the church were a couple of very old and very attractive houses, but life in them must be difficult with the A12 thundering along behind them and the village street in front a busy sliproad.

Dedham

     To return to our days in Suffolk, now a fortnight ago.  On the Monday we headed south over the border in to Essex and the ridiculously beautiful village of Dedham.  There is really only one street and it is a real treasure.  There's even a tasty bit of English Baroque.

     After that embarass de richesse the parish church was a bit of a let-down.  The only things to catch my eye were these two funerary monuments: one Baroque the other latest Perp.  The latter must have served as an Easter Sepulchre.

     If that were not all in addition to this Dedham has been very lucky in the twentieth century to be the base of Classical architects Raymond Erith and his successor Quilan Terry.  Their work is to be seen around the village and very good it is.