Standing on an eminence is the splendid Parish Church of St. Mary, a handsome cruciform building of flint, in mixed style and built by Walter about 1100 A.D. These are not the origins of the church, for Doomsday Book notes a church already in existence at that time, In 1100 A.D. Walter founded the present building, consisting of a chancel, nave, transepts, a north porch and a central Norman tower, terminating in an embattled Perpendicular octangon added in the 14th century.

The chancel arch, western and southern doorways are Norman, the nave and chancel Early English and the north porch Perpendicular. In 1849 the south transept was rebuilt and the north transept added at the same time. The Norman work is of Barnack stone, with later work in Caen stone and clunch.

On entering the church by the north porch, the first ornament the visitor will see is the octangle font. This is a splended sculptured example of 14th century work on a perpendicular stem (1350 A.D.). It contains four symbols of our Lord, the Pelican, Lamb, Unicorn and the Lion and four symbols of the Evangelists, the Angel, Lion, Ox and the Eagle, with the chief feature being the four monks supporting the shaft. On the north east corner one may be seen in meditaion and of the others, one appears to hold the treasurer's satchel, another a breviary and the fourth one a reliquary. This magnificent product of ancient hands has escaped the ravages of time and destruction.

A pewter alms bowl remains. The font also has a beautiful carved wooden cover in the shape of a spire and is suspended by a wire from the roof which enables the cover to be removed for baptisms. There is an inscription to the memory of a former vicar's wife: Barbara Rose Jones, 1833 - 1921.

Continuing up the nave there are memorials in stained glass windows to Thomas Compton-Thornhill, to Hannah (daughter of John HGarrison), who died in 1862 and mural tablets to the families of Spring, Hollingworth, Symons and Discipline and a special bronze tablet in memory of Captain John Errington Parry-Crook, who was killed in action on 8th November, 1941.

The war memorials to the men who fell in the two wars 1914 - 1918 and 1939 - 1945 have their names inscribed on tablets in the porch.

At the crossing is the nave alter, dedicated to Barbara Cunliffe, 1900 - 1970. The nave is divided from the chancel by a carved oak screen and in a note by the Revd. B.A. Browning, vicar from 1929 - 1938, he says that before1850 there was a western Nornam arch at the east end of the nave and similar to the eastern chancel arch, but a new and larger arch was substituted for it and there was a mural painting over the western arch of the nave which was destroyed on account of its fading and mutilation in June 1850. There is a copy from a drawing by the Revd. C.W. Jones and made by the Revd. B.A. Browning in 1931. It is known that there was a mural of the Doom painted on the chancel arch, of which no trace remains, but it is recorded that the letters were from Mt 25, as follows: on the dexter (right) side Patri mei venite Benedicti (Come, ye blessed of my Father), on the sinister (left) side Discredite male dicti in ignem externum (Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire!). It can be assumed that this drawing by the Revd. C.W. Jones is a copy of the Doom and it can be seen in the choir vestry.

In the chancel are the ancient return stalls and in the south wall of the sacrarium is a piscina, whilst above the alter is the handsome reredos of Caen stone, with inlaid gilt mosaics, executed by Italian masons as a memorial to a former vicar and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Jones went to Italy to recuperate after a long winter of various illnesses. Whilst there, they were much interested by Venetian mosaics for church decorations. He and his brother put up this handsome reredos in the chancel in memory of their father and mother. The work was carried out by Salviator and his men, who were working on the Albert Memorial.

Above is the east window, which in 1887 was restored by the Misses Casborne and Stanley, being fitted with stained glass representing The Kingdom of Heaven. The cost of £325 was raised by subscription. On either side of the chancel are two narrow stained windows The Light of the World and The Good Shepherd, in memory of Charles Willian Jones, curate and vicar of the Parish from 1848 - 1904.

The south east window, stained in darker colours, was dedicated to Edward Greene MP in 1892 by his widow and depicts Marther, Our Lord, and Mary.

The north east window is stained in lighter colouring and is particularly beautiful, depicting the Sower sowing his seeds, a man carrying his sickle and bible and a trumpeter carrying sheaves of corn, with the following - "He that goeth on his way weeping and beareth forth good seed - Shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him. Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the harvest is ripe" - (Ps. 126 and Rev 14). It is in memory of Harry Clemence Bridges, 17 years warden of the church and dated 1913. There is also a fragment of 15th century stained glass in a south easterly window of the chancel.

The alter rails are Jacobean and on the floor around the alter are several memorial tablets with Latin inscriptions to members of the Spring family, dated 1642, 1654 and 1662.

Entry to the vestry is through a door on the north side of the chancel. It contains the parish chest, made from a hallowed tree trunk. The church plate included an Elizabethan communion cup with the date letter of 1566, whilst the registers date from 1563. There are two oil paintings of the church and vicarage in 1832, by the Revd. Jenkins.

On the exterior of the church, embeded in the south wall of the nave, is a stone coffin. It is presumed that this is the coffin of Walter, the founder and is evidence of an intra mural burial. Also along the south wall of the chancel are four 13th century coped coffin lids standing on end and secured to the wall.

Also in the church, hanging on the west wall next to the list of vicars and patrons that dates from the year 1200 (see Appendix II), is a beautifully executed pedigree of the Pakenham family, the gift of N,R. Whitwell who was churchwarden for the 21 years from 1958 to 1979 and who came by this illustrated pedigree during his research with the Revd. Stephen Pakenham MA, Vicar of St. Mary Bourne, Hampshire.

The family arms, all in splendid colour, adorn the large parchment with his heading, "The Pedigree of Pakenham in the County of Suffolk. Earls and Barons Longford, Peerage of Ireland and Batons Silchester in the United Kingdom".

The quartering of their arms is common to all descendants of the first Baron Longford and others acquired later.

The Family of Pakenham

St. Mary's Church, standing on an Anglo Saxon fortified site, has been a noble house of prayer for nearly nine hundred years. The present building began with Walter, who built the church in Pakenham in the year 1100, and continues down the line via Peter, Walter, Stephen and Alice, then to Anslem (fil Peter) who married Ingrethe and whose lands in Pakenham are mentioned in the grant by Simon, Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, to Sir John de Pakenham in the year 1220. Then on to John (fil Anselm), William (fil Robert), Thomas, Moses and Nicholas de Pakenham, who were living in 1240. So the prdigree continues, showing in colour the arms of each family with interesting notes too numerous to record here. Nevertheless the above is evidence that the complete pedigree of the Pakenhams commenced with the founder of the church who is believed to be burried in the wall of the nave on the south side. The pedigree carries on through the many branches of the family, concluding with the first Lord Longford, Thomas Pakenham, 1713, born at Pakenham Hall and created Baron in the Peerage of Ireland, 1756.

The second Lord Longford was Edward Michael Pakenham, a Captain in the Royal Navy. His son was Admiral (of the Red) the Hon. Sir Thomas Pakenham GCB, 1757 - 1836.

The second Earl (the third Lord Longford) was Thomas 1774 - 1835.

The third Earl was Edward Michael, a Major in the Life Guards, 1817 - 1860.

The fourth Earl was General William Lygon Pakenham KCB, 1819 - 1887.

The fifth Earl was Thomas Pakenham, Brigadier General killed at Gallipoli, 1864 - 1915.

The sixth Earl of Longford is Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 1902 - .

There is more about the end of this nobel family as far as their connections with Pakenham village is concerned, the chapter The Manors of Pakenham : The Manor of Nether Hall explaines the departure of this family from the neighbourhood.

The Tower

The tower of St. Mary's Church is very unusual. The upper part of the tower is an octangle, built possibly in the fourteenth century. This rests on a square frame. The walls of this great octagan are three feet thick and filled with rubble. Crises have occurred because of the pressure and weight of the octagon resting upon the square base. In 1977 the diocesan architect warned the Church Council and advised that repairs be carried out before much further deterioration took place, so Pakenham set to work to raise the money needed to meet the estimated cost.

If the actual cost had been known at the beginning, perhaps the village would not have been so optimistic, enthusiastic and determined; as it turned out, there were numerous visits by architects, construction engineers and others from time to time. At the end of each visit further costs were added. So the programme of fund raising events continued. There were fêtes, bazaars, coffee mornings, concerts, recitals, cheese and wine parties, film shows and even a sponsored "Ride and Walk", to add to the many generous subscriptions and covenants that comprised a long campaign, almost as large a programme as that of the "grouting" that went on outside the tower. Inside the tower, builders installed a great concrete ring beam and carried out other important repairs to the windows and elsewhere.

At last, after nearly four years, the scaffolding came down and the work was completed. The costs of £40,000 were raised by grants from the government, the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and the Diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich. But the people of Pakenham have found the rest, amounting to about £20,000 and so it was that the final effort, in the form of a Flower Festival held from September 11th to 14th, 1981, coincided with the Institution and Induction of the Revd. Richard Addington MA, the 44th Vicar of Pakenham, on the 11th September, 1981.

High up inside the tower and mounted on an old oak frame are five fine bells.

All were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundary and it is pleasing that the names of the individual craftsmen were also recorded.

No. 3 was cast by Lester Pack
No. 4 and Tenor by George Mears
Treble by Mears and Stainbank

Although the magnificent efforts to raise the large amount of money to repair the tower have made the church safe for a long time to come, it is sad to write that the bells may not be rung, owing to the detoriation of the bell chamber and its structure. If one climbs the many steps, passing through the bell chamber and up the very rickety ladders on to the roof, a magnificent view of the outlying parish is the reward.