Church of Saint Andrew. Covehithe, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, Europe.
The great medieval churches of the north Suffolk coast are in various states of survival, according to the fortunes of history. Southwold is the complete municipal church, wonderful in nearly every respect. Blythburgh has been pulled back from the brink, a stunningly beautiful space fitted perfectly for the spiritual aesthetics of contemporary Anglicanism. Walberswick and Covehithe complete this quartet of huge churches, but you need to visit the first two to fully appreciate what was once here, and at Walberswick. There was a fifth great church at Easton Bavents, but that is now entirely lost to the sea. For, like Walberswick, St Andrew at Covehithe is a ruin now, and all that remains is a vast curtain of walling, which is almost complete. It dwarfs a tiny 17th Century church built against the tower within the shell. The eastern end of the ruin is especially impressive, with the rood loft stairs in the north wall still accessible, and what was clearly a vaulted crypt in the chancel. This church was rebuilt in the 15th Century at about the same time as Southwold and Blythburgh. As at Blythburgh, an earlier tower was incorporated. This tower still survives today. But the rest of the church was derelicted by the local people in 1672, less than two hundred years after it had been built. This was not out of any malicious intent; rather, the upkeep of such a great church placed too great a burden on such a tiny village at a time when public worship was a low-key and rather sober affair. It was a question of priorities, and a reminder that these great churches were not designed for the congregational worship they came to host after the Reformation. So the parish got permission to remove the roof, and then built the much smaller church against the west tower. The same thing happened at Walberswick. The tower is a very fine one, and was once an important landmark for ships at sea.
Size: 7342px × 5280px
Location: Church of Saint Andrew. Covehithe, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, Europe.
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: andrew, church, covehithe, ruin, saint
