Church of St John the Baptist,  Snape,  IP17 1QW

The picture above is from the excellent © Suffolk Churches website

Snape's Grade II❋-listed Church
is in the north of the village,
at the A1094 crossroads,
marked on our Map 1 with letter "J".

The earliest recorded incumbent of Snape was Sir William de Rurcham whose appointment was in 1240.  There have been many internal as well as external alterations and restorations since then.  The most recent of significance have been the rebuilding of the East Wall in 1920, and the installation of a new organ together with improvements to the balcony and vestry at the millennium. 

The treasure of the Church, despite some mutilation in the past, is undoubtedly the font, made c.1500 and once gilded.  In his "Buildings of England: Suffolk", Nikolaus Pevsner describes "on the base a quatrefoil frieze, and inscription referring to Richard Mey and his family as donors; on the foot of the stem, small beasts crawling; against the stem, four signs of the Evangelists set diagonally, and kings and bishops placed frontally; against the bowl seven figures all holding one long scroll [and] in the eighth field the Trinity with the two donors".  The font remains one of the most beautiful in the county.

Visitors are also attracted by the East window, designed and made in 1920 by Mary Lowndes — it carries, in its lower middle panel, a representation of Snape Bridge, as it then was, with a Thames barge in the foreground (pictured far left). 

"Mary Lowndes (1857–1929) was ... an influential leader in the Arts & Crafts movement, not only for her stained glass work and successful studio-workshop, but also for opening doors for other women stained glass artists.  She was an active participant in the suffragette movement, acting as Chair of the Artists' Suffrage League, and creating poster art to assist the movement."  — Wikipedia

Visitors from all over the world, as the entries to the visitors’ book indicate, come to Snape Church.  They and those who follow them, whether local residents or holiday-makers, are most welcome whether they come to services or merely to enjoy the calm and peace of their surroundings.  The Church is open to visitors during daylight hours.

See here about parochial life today.

CHURCHWARDEN'S HISTORY & REPORT, APRIL 2021

See here about today's parochial life, including further links on to Benefice Service rotas.

Our local medieval Churches include the following —