St Michael’s Church

There is a church recorded at Woolverstone, or Uluerestuna, in the Domesday survey of 1086 along with 10 acres of land. We have little idea what this church looked like, it was possibly made of wood and thatched. No evidence remains. It is likely that the present church was built on the same site, a knoll at the head of a valley leading down to the river. Similar, but with less height, than Wherstead church.

The church we see started taking shape c.1307 with the first rector, John de Ramsholt, instituted a year later in June 1308. The process of building went on for the next two hundred years. The church then was much smaller and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It occupied what is now the south aisle and chancel. The south door, the stoup in the porch, the piscina, the sedilia in the chancel and the font bowl belong to the same period, although the font stem belongs to a later period. The two-stage tower, without the battlements and pinnacles, was built in the 15^th century. Robert Wolverston left “halfe the brykkes and all the timbyre” for the porch in 1492, suggesting that the porch was enclosed at this time.

Later extensions and renovations stripped the church of most of its medieval decoration and brasses, except one relocated to the shallow step into the south chancel dedicated to Thomas Runtyng who was Rector from 1399 until his death c.1420.

It is hard to read, not only because it is written in Latin but because of the use of space-saving abbreviations. The sections in brackets are missing from the text.

Hic iacet d(omin)us Thomas Runtyng

qu(o)[n]d(a)m rector isti(us) eccl(es)iecui(us) a(n)i(m)e p(ro)piciet(ur) de(us)

Here lies Master Thomas Runtyng,

who was formerly rector of this church. May God have mercy on his soul.

The fascinating life of one of Woolverstone church’s Rectors in the seventeenth century, the Rev. Thomas Dalton, is told in the privately published book: “The English Home of Timothy Dalton” (1898). There is also much detail about both the village and the church. The whole of this text can be read at: https://history.lanememoriallibrary.org/hampton/biog/dalton/10.htm

There was little further change until the arrival of the Berners family and the church at Woolverstone had become hidden by trees and become quite run down.

Henry Denny was presented as Rector of Erwarton with Woolverstone in 1801. The Suffolk livings were in the family’s gift. He was also Rector for Harkstead. In March 1819, he was appointed Archdeacon of Suffolk by the Lord Bishop of Norwich.

One of his first actions, as Squire, had been to extend the church creating a north aisle and transept, plus a vestry which initially doubled as a Parochial School, see diagram below. The original church runs from the tower, through the nave and into the chancel. The buildings to the north, transept, chancel aisle and vestry were added by Rev. H. D. Berners in 1832.

Woolverstone Church, floor plan. Courtesy of Norwich Records Office DN/CON/153

David Elisha Davy says in his “Journal of Excursions Through the County of Suffolk 1823 -1844”, Thurs. April 25th 1833, “Walked to Wolverston Church, to see the alterations made there lately by Archdeacon Berners. The new Isle is a great improvement to the church; but greater still, I think is, the cutting down many of the Trees, which formerlty so thickly & so closely surrounded it, as to render it very dark and dull. under the new Islea vault is built for the Berners famiy; the entrance to which is in the middle withinside, & covered with stone slabs.”

Henry Davy, 22nd May 1838 – St Michael’s church, Woolverston. [Note the tower has been retouched at a later date and pinnacles added to the original drawing. The tower at this time stopped at the battlements.]

At some point after the consolidation of the parishes of Woolverstone and Erwarton in 1819, both of whose churches were dedicated to St Mary, a change was made and Woolverstone was re-dedicated to St Michael the Archangel. In 1855, Mssrs Henry and Parker in “Architectural Notes On The Churches And Other Medieval Building Of Suffolk” are still using the name St Mary for the church, although White’s “Suffolk Gazetteer” of 1844 refers to the church as St Michael’s. Later, in 1889, the dedication changed again, to St Michael and All Angels. In “The English Home of Timothy Dalton”, it is claimed that the church had become St Michael “some fifty years earlier”, so perhaps the dedicatee changed in the 1840s.  It is of note that St Michael was also the patron saint of the Berners family and also William (Duke of Normandy), with whom the de Berners arrived on these shores in 1066.

Chancel restoration 1864 – 1866

In May 1862, Mary Henrietta Berners’ mother, Mrs Mary Rowley, died at her home, No 35 Upper Brook Street. She was 83. Following burial in St Michael’s churchyard, Woolverstone, a stained-glass window dedicated to the memory of Rev. Joshua and Mary Rowley was installed in the east window in the chancel, dated 1862. The chancel itself was restored and repaired between 1864 and 1866, under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). White’s History , Gazetteer and Directory of Suffolk 1874 records: “The chancel…contains a piscina and a sedilia”. Mrs Berners also installed  “a new stone pulpit”. The cost of refurbishment, in the region of £1000, was defrayed by Mrs Berners. Sadly, the bottom three lights of the east window were destroyed by enemy action in 1941 and were replaced in 1947. The tracery of the original, however, still remains as well as the upper lights.

The church at this time consisted of a single nave and chancel, with a transept, north chancel aisle and vestry. Music for hymns was delivered via a harmonium.

This was an increasingly busy period for John Berners as he continued to expand the estate as well as cultivate the role of a socially responsible country gentleman.

Capt. Hugh Berners RN – improvement of St Michael and All Angels

Capt. Hugh Berners RN was a solid churchman. Wherever he lived he supported and encouraged restoration and improvement of churches. When the estate at Woolverstone devolved onto him he had an incredible opportunity to improve and extend his own church which was dedicated to St Michael and All Angels.

His father had added a north transept aisle, and vestry in 1832. His brother had restored and improved the chancel between 1864 and 1866. Now he decided to leave his mark.

In April 1888, Capt. Hugh successfully appealed to the Diocese with plans for the extension and  refurbishment of St Michael’s Church. He hired the respected architect James Piers St. Aubyn (1815 – 1895) who, at this time, was working with Henry John Wadling (1844 – 1918) .

The reasons given for the transformation of the church were that  it was, “too small for the requirements of the said parish”  and  “it was inconveniently fitted.” The numbers of workers on the estate had grown considerably and they were required to attend church regularly.  

The proposal was more than a restoration. The entire north wall was to be removed, plus the 1832 transept, aisle and vestry. In its place was to be a new nave and chancel, choir and clergy vestry, plus a heating vault. Materials were to be of excellent quality, so too was the workmanship. The entirety of the cost would be defrayed by Capt. Hugh Berners.

J P St. Aubyn plans for St Michael’s, Woolverstone. Courtesy of Norwich Records Office DN/CON/153

There was a lot of preparatory work. All monument slabs from the floor of the old church and murals had to be removed. The painted glass widow cased. All gravestones on the site to be cleaned and restored. Mortal remains to be removed. Any open graves were to be filled with solid matter. Sacrarium tiles were retained, all others were removed. New plaster after the old was removed. The old chancel roof was retained. The pulpit donated by John Berners’ widow was moved to the new aisle. A “proper” well was to be prepared beneath the font, possibly a form of basin.  Three new bells were provided by Messrs. J. Warner and Sons, of Cripplegate, London. On the tower the brick castellated parapet was removed and one of Doulton stone and flint with pinnacles built in its place.

The new nave was 50 feet long and doubled the capacity of the church making it one of the largest on the Shotley Peninsula. The roof was supported by beams of English Oak grown on the estate. It is separated from the south aisle by an arcade of three arches. The new chancel is a further 42 feet long and divided from the former chancel by iron grills. The new vestry, to be shared by the choir, was 29 feet  in length. A section would also house the new organ which had been commissioned but had to wait until the building was sufficiently dry to be installed. A new “ warming apparatus” was provided by Messrs. Haden and Sons, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire with the steps leading down to a boiler room and furnace beneath the new vestry. The seating in the old nave was removed  and the space left open and flexible. The new nave was fitted with oak benching on an oak block floor. The font was moved from a position under the tower nearer to the south porch.

With the building and restoration work completed, the sacred edifice of St Michael and All Angels was re-opened on Thursday 3^rd October 1889. The congregation was large, led by Capt. Hugh, his daughter Edith and son Charles, with other members of the Berners family present. In the afternoon a “large and joyous company” sat down to a parish tea which was held in a barn at Home Farm.

The new organ was dedicated six months later, on Wednesday April 9^th 1890. The service of dedication completed with an organ recital by B. Luard-Selby, Esq. lately the organist at Salisbury Cathedral. The organ was described as one which had “a richness of tone and considerable power”. It was built by the well-known firm of Lewis of Brixton and was contained in a solid oak case, with plain metal pipes, the greatest of which were 8ft and 16 ft tall.

By the time they were finished, the alterations to St Michael and All Angels cost a total of £5,319 8s 11d, all paid by Capt. Hugh Berners. This sum did not include the cost of the organ and sundry other items.

This beautiful church is open between 9:30 and dusk, seven days a week, for visitors to enjoy its beauty, quiet contemplation and prayer.

Further information can be found at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1204060?section=official-list-entry

Also: https://media.acny.uk/media/venues/page/attachment/2018/09/church_history.pdf

A comprehensive churchyard survey, plus other information, can be found at: https://woolverstone.com/

The Domesday survey reference can be found here: https://opendomesday.org/place/TM1838/woolverstone/