St Mary the Virgin's Church, Cavendish

St Mary the Virgin’s Church stands in Cavendish, Suffolk, a Grade I listed building mostly built between about 1300 and 1485. Its tower, porch and aisle walls date from the early 14th century, dressed in flint with a stair turret above the parapet. A lantern crowns the tower and the chancel was funded by Sir John Cavendish’s bequest in the 1380s. The nave may have been designed by Reginald Ely, who also worked on King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. Simon Jenkins gave the church one star in his England’s Thousand Best Churches. The church’s exterior hides a violent past connected with the Peasants’ Revolt. Sir John Cavendish’s son ordered the death of Wat Tyler, and in revenge villagers seized the father. He clung to the church door handle to claim sanctuary but was dragged to Bury St Edmunds and beheaded on 15 June 1381. His bequest to the church followed as recompense. Inside, a 16th-century Flemish reredos shows the crucifixion framed by Sir Ninian Comper. The interior feels light and clean after early 21st-century work. A modern Madonna and child sits in a canopied niche beside a squint that once served a chantry altar. A large roundel honours Sue Ryder and Leonard Cheshire for their post-war relief work. The South aisle holds a tomb chest for Sir George Colt, who died in 1570. At the east end of the same aisle stands another chest for the same knight. The 1884 Henry Jones pipe organ and the church’s bells complete the furnishings.