St Bartholomew
Groton, Suffolk
Beautiful church sitting in open countryside, next to a great village pub and onetime home to John Winthrop, Pilgrim Father and First Governor of Massachusetts.
Beautiful medieval wool church sitting in the village of Boxford (a once large medieval town) and once home of John Winthrop, Pilgrim Father and First Governor of Massachusetts. This church is beautifully kept and in remarkably good order. It has a stillness and a space that exudes peacefulness and calm.
It has unique 13th century north and south porches. It still shows signs of tremendous symbolism despite obvious vandalism caused by the reformers and puritans. There are medieval frescos of Angels at the incarnation above the chancel arch and of Edmund King and Martyr in the Lady Chapel. Sadly, all the others have been lost during redecoration of various eras, especially the 1970s. The statue niches in the Lady Chapel, at the west door and in the south porch are quite lovely and reminisce on a time when the Church of England was more at ease with its spiritual symbolism. The east window of the Transfiguration is a 1970s addition and is quite transformative in the space. It also has a quite unique apire.
The churchyard it well maintained and a lovely place to sit on a sunny day. Wonderful footpath walks connecting the other churches in the Winthrop trail.