St Leonard, Wixoe

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A church which is not remote, but which is obscure. The small village sits in the south-west corner of Suffolk, bypassed by the Haverhill to Sudbury and Braintree roads and accessible only from each end of its long, winding street. The River Stour threads through not far from the church and forms the border between Suffolk and Essex. The church writer Sam Mortlock, who was born in the village and was proud of being a Suffolker, once told me that it had been 'a close run thing'. On old maps you can see that the Cambridge to Colchester railway line also once ran through the parish, and so perhaps this little church was once a landmark for travellers. No more.

The river may keep the parish in Suffolk, but St Leonard is entirely a typical north Essex church in style. Like neighbouring Little Wratting, it is small Norman church elaborated with a wooden bellcote. It was comprehensively restored in the 1890s by William Fawcett, and it is hard now to spot any older details other than the south and former north doorways..

St Leonard is the patron Saint of prisoners, and only a couple of Suffolk churches are dedicated to him. You step into a church which is neat and well-kept, and again there are few reminders of its life before the restoration. The best of these is the early 18th Century memorial to Dorothy Berkeley and her husband William who joined her in 1851. An anguished winged skull takes flight below the inscription, and the two cherubs that flank it are similarly distraught. The Berkeleys must have been people of some consequence, because the entrance to their vault is right in the middle of the chancel, and tells us that it is containing ten foot square, presumably meaning a space ten feet by ten feet, and thus a hundred square feet in area, warning off anyone who might come later and be tempted to encroach on their space.

Two of Wixoe's more famous recent residents were Lieutenant Commander Vladimir Peniakoff and his wife Pamela Hope Matthews. He was better known as Popski, leader of Popski's Private Army, a Special Forces unit in North Africa and Italy during World War Two. He is said to have been one of the inspirations for the character James Bond. He died in 1951. His wife is remembered as a Wartime ATS officer, in service with MI6, Interior Designer, Countrywoman. International Traveller, Gardener, Motorist and Cavendish Resident. She died as recently as 2005. They are buried together in the churchyard.