20th century rebirth and 21st century transformation

The 20th century rebirth: Under the care of the Friends, St Peter’s hosted concerts of so many kinds; fairs and markets; town and civic events; receptions, celebrations, school holiday clubs, flower festivals, Christmas tree festivals, fireworks off the tower, cookery demonstrations, fashion shows, horticultural shows, historical exhibitions, art exhibitions, model railway exhibitions, medieval banquets, medieval fairs, Christmas card shops, farmers’ markets and so much else, even a group juggling with flaming torches. For many years Churches Together in Sudbury ran a very popular drop-in cafe on Thursday lunchtimes.

The Friends increased the number of visitors each year to St Peter’s to the many tens of thousands. No wonder that much of the equipment wore out. The Friends did indeed manage to “prove the use… for the benefit of the town” and enabled St Peter’s to find a way back into the hearts and minds of the townsfolk whose lives it had enriched for hundreds of years.

21st century transformation: The Friends proved that St Peter’s could sustainably enrich the lives of local people but the fabric of the building, in particular the roof, needed significant repairs. After these much needed repairs were completed St Peter’s re-opened in late 2023 as Sudbury Arts Centre under new management and a new ethos. The Friends now take a back seat but are still there just in case St Peter’s stumbles when ambition meets financial reality .

Out of the success of the festival was born a registered charity, the “Friends of St Peter Sudbury”, in readiness for the inevitable declaration of redundancy of the building which came towards the end of 1976 with the Friends being appointed as agents for the Redundant Churches Fund to
run the building locally. Tony Moore was the first chairman, Roger Green became the fourth chairman, enjoying office for 27 years. The Friends had already started opening the building to the public regularly and cleaning, cleaning, and yes, more cleaning.

The Friends’ first major challenge was to take the bells (one is 500 years old) to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry for remedial work, build a new bell frame
in the tower and enable the wonderful voices of those bells to ring out again over the town. The Friends also raised sufficient funds to cast two new bells to make a ring of ten, in October 1979.

The townsfolk soon realised the benefits of using Sudbury’s central building and it became popular for myriad different activities. Many of those who used the building or supported our aims joined the Friends
group. A Rector of the mid 19th century had controversially sold off the pews and so we had a wonderful open space that was adaptable to
so many uses.

Over the next forty years the Friends raised funds to provide new chairs; new staging (twice); new electrics throughout the building; new lighting (twice); new heating (twice); a new kitchen (three times); new tables (twice); and a sound system, as well as spending £350,000 on
the organ and gently renovating parts of the building.

Roger Green could not believe the devastation and neglect when he first visited the church back in the early 1970s. Nothing worked and it was all covered in dust and cobwebs, standing unloved and friendless at the centre of the town. Roger was invited to meet a town councillor, Tony Moore. Tony’s ambition to revive the building inspired Roger and together they hatched plans for a Festival of Sudbury to “prove the use of the building
for the benefit of the town.” The Festival ran from May 16th to 22nd June, 1975. The list of events was huge. It was difficult to live in or around Sudbury without noticing that something was afoot. Many of the events were spectacular, and very well supported by the public.

The Festival made a profit but, much more significant, the attitude in the town towards the building had changed. People from all walks of life
had attended events and enjoyed the experience. They wanted more. Many of them looked at the building with new eyes.

After more than 600 years crowning Sudbury’s Market Hill, the medieval church of St Peter was in great danger and looking friendless. In 1958 St Peter’s was the subject of a “Brief report upon the structural defects requiring the most urgent attention”. Timber had “split alarmingly” and “cavities extend right through the thickness of the wall”. Arches were “opening up”. Strangely, the town did not rush to save the building.

Ten years later, an even more dramatic report warned of imminent collapse of the upper part of the tower. The local press was stung into action and sought opinions from the townsfolk. 112 inhabitants wanted the church to be demolished, but the building had some friends and 188 folk thought it should be kept. 25 respondents dithered.

There were proposals for demolition and replacement by a small garden; underground public toilets; a modern community hall; a car park; extending the market. One town councillor advocated taking off the roof and leaving it to become a “noble ruin in which people could eat their
sandwiches”. Another suggestion was to demolish the building and replace it with an exact fibreglass copy. Facing objections that people would be unable to go inside, the proponent added “hardly anyone enters the present church anyway.” He had a point.

But money was raised in the town, work was undertaken, the tower was reinforced with concrete ring beams. Perhaps a brighter future beckoned…

Just three years later, the church was closed for worship and locked up. There followed further talks on demolition.