Striking images at Norfolk’s landmark church on the hill

A colourful backdrop of icons set the stage for the annual patronal service at St Peter’s Church, Corpusty.

It was even more appropriate that as dawn broke on Petertide the sun was streaming through the restored east window, said the vicar of Saxthorpe, the Rev David Longe.  He welcomed 30 members of the congregration to Evensong as he took his first St Peter’s service at the church on Saturday, June 29.

And fittingly too, given that the landmark church on the skyline has been given a new lease of life by the Norwich Churches Trust, he invited the chairman, Peter Sheppard, to give the first reading.

Then, the Rev Longe mentioned the exhibition of various icons in the church and invited the artist, Judith James to talk about her work. Born in Norwich and now living in Corpusty, she was a frequent visitor to the village, where her grandparents lived within sight of the church.  She has been painting icons for the last eight years and as a mature student studied fine art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

In her exhibition of about 20 icons, which continues at the church until Friday, July 5, she said that the original icon of St Peter is in the British Museum. It may have been painted in Constantinople around 1320 and depicts him holding a scroll with words from the second epistle of Peter.

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