IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Carbrooke, THETFORD, IP25 6TA

In the time of Henry II, Maud, countess of Clare, gave the church of St. Peter, Great Carbrooke, and of St. John Baptist, Little Carbrooke, to the Knights Hospitallers.

The group is kept on a pasture all to their own; they have just noticed, and are watching with great interest, the farmer's car driving into their pasture.

Through Carbrooke

On Church Street.

Adjacent to > Image; here the Knights Hospitallers collected alms for pilgrims to Jerusalem and the military duties that arose from their care and shelter. The church houses East Anglia's oldest identifiable coffin slabs, both bearing the cross marks of the Knights Templar, and presumed to mark the graves of the widow of Roger, Earl of Clare, who founded the Commandery in about 1193, and their son James > Image

This church appears to straddle the 95 easting grid line. I hope that there is enough in square TF9502 for this photo to qualify as a Geograph!

This is a grand 15th c. church: the north porch has a parvise and a south porch as well as a west doorway beneath the lofty tower which is worthy of close examination. A flushwork base course runs all the way around the building. A 14th c. ogee south doorway is also unusual to find. A five window clerestory casts plenty of light onto the arch-braced false hammerbeam nave roof with its angels and carved flowers at each intersection. The 14th c. octagonal font has geometric decoration. The benches all have charming animal carvings on their ends, some of which are renewed. The only piscina is in the chapel of the south aisle and the sedilia in the chancel seats only two. On the altar is a mediaeval stone mensa. Hanoverian Arms and an ancient parish chest are on display and more. All very interesting.

In > Image The church of St Peter & St Paul stands on an elevation in the village of Carbrooke (its 99 feet/30 metres high tower can be seen for many miles), adjacent to a pasture where the Carbrooke Commandery once stood Image; here the Knights Hospitallers collected alms for pilgrims to Jerusalem and the military duties that arose from their care and shelter. The church houses East Anglia's oldest identifiable coffin slabs, both bearing the cross marks of the Knights Templar, and presumed to mark the graves of Mathilda, the widow of Roger, Earl of Clare, who founded the Commandery in about 1193, and their son James > Image They date from the early 13th century. According to the church guide, the Latin inscription says: "Here lies buried a mother of the family of Clare by a soldier of which (family) England boasts herself renowned" and "A son rests interred at the right hand of his mother. Returning to his own birth he has sought this harbour"

A memorial by John and Katin Moray-Smith. For me this artwork was captivating and I'm sure long after I've forgotten the details of the handsome church I will remember this.