WALPOLE ST. PETER CHURCH

Our July meeting saw members and guests from the King’s Lynn Family History Society enjoy a pleasant & very warm evening at Walpole St Peter at the church that Prince Charles & his guests visit.
After strolling around this large church the rector gave us a brief history of the building.
There has been a church on this site since 1021 & the present tower was built in 1300. A sea flood destroyed everything in 1337, except the tower. The rebuilding was set back in 1348 by the appearance of the disease known as the Black Death. A change from local agriculture to sheep farming provided much of the finance required to complete the work. As much wool as could be produced was exported to Belgium.
The present nave, which was divided by a rood – screen was the nave & chancel until 1425. It was at this time that the rood screen was moved to the east wall, the wall removed and the present chancel added with a magnificent stained glass east window. Although there is only the lower half of the rood screen remaining, the original paintings can still be identified.
The church has many windows letting more light in than was usual & today there is an ongoing programme of restoration work on the plain & stained glass windows.
There is an unusual western screen spanning virtually the width of the church behind the pews. This was thought to be either a ‘draught excluder ‘ or to keep the animals in one place when they were brought to church to pay tithes or for sale.
There is a very large table that was thought to be used by the congregation to sit at to eat their meals when they had had to walk a long way to church.
The rector took us on a tour demonstrating the use of the unusually deep font, which is covered by ornate wooden swing doors showing mermen, their origins & meaning unknown. We saw a poor box dated 1630 & a metal lined low rocking cradle, which we thought might have been used by the babies awaiting their baptism.
We then went to the chancel where the altar is about 7ft 6 ins above the church floor & was reached by several steps. The reason for this was that when the time came to build the altar it was found to encroach on a right of way, so a tunnel was formed & the altar built on top. This tunnel was known as the bolt hole & on going outside & walking through it we could see the iron rings in the wall where the horses were tethered & the dent in the ground which legend has is the spot where the Giant Hickathrift threw a cannon ball to frighten away the devil.
The majority of the church registers were stolen in the 1960s when the safe was removed from the church. The rest of the evening was spent looking at the few documents they have left with some replicas. People then strolled around the church themselves with a guide book which could be purchased, asked questions, look at paintings & carvings and enjoyed light refreshments served by the rector.
[Barbara Holmes]