ARCHITECTURE
Paul Waddington follows up Fr Whisenant’s article with a special feature on the architecture and history of the church of St Edmund at Withermarsh Green
S
ometimes, one finds Catholic churches in very isolated locations. A case in point is the Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Edmund, King and Martyr at Withermarsh Green, a tiny hamlet close to the River Stour in Suffolk. It is a quaint part of rural England made famous by the paintings of John Constable. As is often the case with rural Catholic churches, it owes its location to a recusant family, in this case, the Mannocks of nearby Giffords Hall. The Mannock family acquired Giffords Hall in 1428 and continued to live there until 1830. The present Hall dates from the early sixteenth century, although elements of the earlier thirteenth century manor survive. Within the grounds are the ruins of the chapel of St Nicholas which date from the year 1216. At the time of the Reformation, the Mannock family remained staunchly Catholic, and during penal times, Mass was offered in Giffords Hall. Indeed, several family members of the family were ordained priests, with at least two being Jesuits. Priests must have lived at the Hall, and been secreted in and out regularly, although there is no record of any being caught. The family did, however, suffer many deprivations for their religious beliefs, being sequestered no less than eight times in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Nevertheless, they were able to hold on to Giffords Hall, if not all their land. Some protection may be attributable to the high status of the family and their association with the Dukes of Norfolk. Lord Edmund Howard, the third son of Thomas Howard, second Duke of Norfolk, succeeded to ownership of nearby Tendring Hall at Stoke-by-Nayland in 1524. Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was Sir Edmund’s niece, and Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife was his daughter. Both were beheaded. The Mannock family frequently visited Tendring Hall, and so mixed with some of the most powerful people in the land. Indeed, Catherine Howard went to the gallows in 1542, partly because of an alleged affair with a member of the Mannock family.
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The church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Edmund, King and Martyr: at the time of opening, it was one of only four Catholic churches in Suffolk
The friendship between the Howard and the Mannock families persisted in most unlikely circumstances. Lord Edmund Howard was the brother of Thomas Howard, the third Duke of Norfolk and the man Henry VIII despatched to defeat the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. The Duke recruited most of his army in Suffolk, which must have caused some friction with the recusant Mannocks. Sir Francis Mannock became a Baronet in 1627. He was ennobled for providing King Charles I with foot soldiers for “the defence of the Kingdom of Ireland”. The Baronetcy ended 1787 with the death of Sir George Mannock, the ninth Baronet. He was a Jesuit priest, and was killed in a road accident, when the coach he was travelling in was overturned near Dover. The story is told that Sir George was on his way to Rome, so that he could renounce his priesthood in order to marry and thus have children to continue the Baronetcy. If this story is correct, his plan failed. Mass since 1216 The Church at Withermarsh Green was built in 1827 on land donated by the Mannock family, shortly before they left the Hall. It was originally dedicated to St Edmund. The addition of Our Lady
Immaculate as the principal patron seems to have happened later. At the time of opening, it was one of only four Catholic churches in Suffolk. It is recorded that the building was paid for by public subscription, although most probably the Mannocks headed the subscription list. A few years later, the family left Giffords Hall after a tenure of more than 400 years. The Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Edmund is a modest building, seemingly built on a small budget. Like many Catholic churches of the period, it was built to resemble a Nonconformist chapel. Nevertheless, it has sufficient merit and historical interest to be Grade II Listed. It is rectangular in plan, and constructed of yellow brick with a slate roof. Often described as barnlike, there is little that is remarkable about the exterior. However, the proportions are pleasing, and there is simple but elegant tracery in the four two-light windows on the Gospel side. These are not original, Gothic tracery having been inserted into the plain window openings at some point. The west end features a castellated porch, beneath which is a pair of really sturdy doors. Alongside the porch in a blocked-up window is a tablet bearing the date 1991, with the following inscription:
WINTER 2020
