Thornham Parva, Suffolk
St. Mary's at Thornham Parva is home to the largest medieval English retable. It was probably painted for the altar piece that stood in Thetford Priory, around 1330. It depicts the crucifixion of Jezus, surrounded by Mary and the disciples. When Henry VIII abolished monasteries in the sixteenth century it was saved by a Roman Catholic family. The retable was donated to the church by Lord Henniker in 1927; shortly before it had been rediscovered tin one of the barns of the Henniker's house at Thornham Magna. The 4 meter wide panel was brought to the Hamilton Kerr instituut (part of the Fitzwilliam Museum of Cambridge University) in 1994 for research and thorough restauration, and returned in Februari 2003; it is now on display behind alarmed glass. There is a twin panel in the Musée de Cluny in Parijs, probably also painted for the Dominican monastery at Thetford (Norfolk). The panel can be seen in the background (1992, photo taken prior to restauration).
Finally on the right a front view of the church. Thornham Magna, about 1 km van Thornham Parva, has another thatched roof church: it is not the tower but the nave of the ship that is thatched. That is where the Hennikers are huried; they still live in Thornham Hall, next to the church.
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