St Peter's Church,
Wenhaston

All About St Peter's Church

Wenhaston is a village of 818 people, situated on elevated ground to the south side of the River Blyth valley approximately five miles inland from the North Sea at Southwold. The area to the east of Wenhaston is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty rolling down towards the coastal estuary of the Blyth. People have lived in what is now called Wenhaston from about 2000 BC. It has a thriving village hall, with a shop and post office, and a very active Parish Council. St Peter’s Church is very much part of the active village community of Wenhaston. Its major services and fund-raising events are well-supported. The Church has strong links with the village primary school, who are helping the Church achieve its silver eco Church award, and continues to develop outreach work with young people and families.

Worship has been taking place on the site of the current church since Saxon times, and the church building bears many traces of this history. In particular, Wenhaston is well-known for its remarkable Doom painting, which dates back to the late 15th century. Visitors to the Doom frequently comment on the peaceful and welcoming atmosphere of the church. Today the church offers a warm welcome to its services and social events. Mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086, parts of the present St Peter’s Church dates back to Norman times. Although it is a traditional building, removal of the pews in the 1980’s means it is a flexible space, able to host various events inside the Church such as concerts and occasionally exhibitions. We continue supporting the monthly community lunches which now take place in the village hall, having started some years ago in the Church and having become so popular they have outgrown the Church.

* Three Sunday services a month including one Eucharist and one service shared with the local Methodists, and one service being a service of reflection alternating with a Creation Service

* Monthly informal reflective service, Pause for Thought.

* Positive links with the village Methodist Chapel, including joint services for Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas.

* Active MU group, which collaborates with other groups in the Team and the local area.

* Services with the school for Easter, Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas

* St Peter’s strives to pay its large Parish Share each year in ful

* Several successful fund-raising events during the year, in the church and in the village hall.

* Villagers from outside the church frequently help run these events.

* The PCC is small, but decisive. Necessary repairs are carried out promptly, often with the assistance of local maintenance firms.

* The Doom painting attracts a significant number of visitors, including an increasing number of organised groups. Plans are being made to generate more income from this important historical asset.

Electoral roll 2024 - 25. In 2024 we have had no weddings or baptisms, five funerals and two burials of ashes.

Wenhaston Doom Painting

The Wenhaston Doom Painting dates back to the 15th Century. It illustrates the 'Last Day of Judgement' and is special for two reasons. It was painted onto oak panels. The second is the Rood or figure of Christ on the Cross, with the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist on either side, was actually fixed to the panels (before painting).

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This painting was probably painted by a monk from the Blythburgh Priory, in about 1490.
It is a portrayal of judgement day, and would have originally been placed across the Chancel Arch in full view of the congregation.
Christ the Divine Judge, is shown at the top left of the picture and we can see the marks of the nails. To the right are the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, kneeling.
Beside St. Michael stands Satan, a demon with bat wings and horns and further to the right are the Jaws of Hell, complete with red hot chains and more demons thrusting souls inside. For light relief notice one soul winking and putting his thumb to his nose in a Queen Anne's fan gesture.
Also, in the painting are five souls raising from their graves to be judged, one wearing grave clothes perhaps a recent death.
Below and to the left stands Peter, splendidly dressed, holding the keys to the Kingdom and saving four souls. They are naked, showing all are equal in the eyes of God, their headgear identifying them as Queen, Bishop, Cardinal and King. Further to the left we can see two souls be admitted by an angel to Heaven.
Less than a hundred years after the doom was painted, at the time of the Reformation, it was limewashed over and lost from sight. In 1892 it was dismantled and left in the churchyard, some say to be used as firewood, but fortunately heavy rain removed some of the whitewash revealing the Medieval painting. This was noticed by the Parish Clerk and the painting was saved to be restored and subsequently replaced in the church.
To the right of the Cross is St. Michael, with the Scales of Justice. We can see that the chains for the soul's good deeds is longer then the one for the bad deeds, presumably in the hope that good deeds will outweigh the bad.
The text below dated from Elizabeth I's reign, and does not relate to the Doom.