St Gregory's Church • Sudbury

The church of St Gregory was first mentioned in the 10^th century, though most of what we see today dates from the 14^th and 15^th. Sadly many of the medieval stained glass windows and parts of the rood screen were lost during William Dowsing’s destructive tour of East Anglia during the Civil War in 1643. The building had become so fragile by 1860 that it had to close for restoration work to be carried out. It was offered Grade I listing status in 1952.

Sadly in recent times there has been vandalism on site, which means that the church is often only open for services. If you get the opportunity to enter though, please do for the most interesting thing to see is inside! Preserved in a niche in the vestry is the mummified head of Simon Sudbury.

Sudbury had been Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375. In 1375 he became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1380 a highly unpopular poll tax was imposed and this, as well as the general discontent among the working classes, led to the Peasants’ Revolt the following year. The uprising was centred around East Anglia and the south eastern counties. On 13^th June 1381 men from the Kent area under the direction of Wat Tyler entered London. There they razed the palace of John of Gaunt and massacred some Flemish merchants. The King had already gone up to Essex to negotiate with the rebels there and it was during his absence that the Kent men took the opportunity to force the city to surrender the Tower of London.

Archbishop Simon of Sudbury was there in his capacity as Chancellor and so was the treasurer Sir Robert Hales. They had both been deemed responsible for the unpopular poll tax and became targets of the rebel party. Sudbury was saying mass in St John’s Chapel when they entered the Tower and he was dragged to Tower Hill where he was beheaded along with Hales. His head, with his clerics hood attached with nails, was placed on a pole at London Bridge. His body was taken to Canterbury Cathedral, where his tomb contains a cannonball in place of his head. His stone sarcophagus there once had a gilt copper effigy, but this was another victim of the Reformation in the 1640s.  His head remained on Tower Bridge for six days before being removed and brought to Sudbury. His head is today preserved and can be seen behind a protective glass front in the church. There is a bust of Simon Sudbury in the heritage centre on Goal Lane if you want to see what he looked like.

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GRID REF: TL 87060 41470