Pakefield village sign

Image: © Adrian S Pye Taken: 18 Jun 2013

The sign depicts the two churches on one. St Margaret’s in one side and All Saints in the other. It all started with a dispute between the Pye and Rothenhale families. Each wanted to build a church and so they did, on the same site, because that was where the Saxon tower stood, side by side. Each church had its own Rector, and its own congregation until 1411. It was then, that the rector of All Saints, Robert Graunt, became also Rector of St Margaret’s as well, and knocked through a doorway to unite both churches. During the following ten years, he pierced the dividing wall and inserted the pillars and arches, and constructed a rood screen the full width of the two churches. About the same time the new square tower was built. After Graunt’s death in 1421, the arches were filled in, and for the next 128 years each church again had its own Rector, and although after 1549 nearly every Rector was a “pluralist” for at least a part of his incumbency.  It was not until 1748 that common sense prevailed, and the two churches were legally and permanently joined to become the Parish Church of All Saints and Saint Margaret. The sun behind the church symbolises the Sunshine Coast, while the fish reflect the historical main industry, fishing. The beach and sea feature in the foreground.

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