St. Peter’s Church in Upwell is justly famous for its carved angels which appear to hold up the roof and the magnificent pulpit with its figure of St Peter. The North gallery was added and the West gallery enlarged between 1836 and 1838, costing more than £6000, most of which came from the Ecclesiastical Court at Norwich.

As you walk along the nave, you can see the carvings on the facings of the galleries.

White’s Directory of Norfolk of 1864 says that the doors, pulpit, reading desk and seats were carved in oak by Ollett of Norwich, but who carved these gems on the galleries is unclear.

The brass plaque describing the renovations noted that:

“during the whole of these extensive repairs, be it recorded to the credit of the respectable inhabitants of Upwell, that they forsook not the assembling of themselves together on the Sabbath.“

Coats of arms are carved on the gallery on the North side of the nave including those of Bell of Beaupre Hall, The See of Norwich, Townley, the Royal Arms of Queen Victoria and also Bathurst, for Henry Bathurst, the Bishop of Norwich. He had been Bishop since 1805, and died in 1837. It is logical that the Bathurst crest is present, as he would have been responsible for agreeing to the money for the renovations.

The carvings on the West gallery are rather more exotic, and very difficult to spot. One looks remarkably like a kangaroo and some of the others look bizarre. Whether these are from the imagination of the carver or from the popularity of Captain Cook, and the drawings and tales he brought back with him after landing in Australia in 1770, is not clear. A link to Australia is certainly present as Norwich’s Henry Bathurst was closely related to Earl Henry Bathurst, who was colonial secretary from 1812-1828, and had the city of Bathurst in New South Wales named after him.

Another local link to Australia is from the men and women from Littleport, Downham Market and Southery who took part in riots in Ely and Downham Market in 1816. They were subdued with the help of the Upwell Yeomanry, who arrived “a-horse”, to keep the peace. After being tried they were sent to the hulks before being transported to Botany Bay.

If you stand in the Nave and look back up to the front of the West Gallery, you can see a row of carved figures.

  1. Left facing dragon like figure with a wing and a curly tail
  2. A left facing figure with smooth skin, curly tail and a flowing top-knot
  3. A human like head with three leaves and a crown
  4. A three pronged group of leaves with a curled centre
  5. A winged animal with long body and tail and wolf’s head
  6. A round human face with three leaves
  7. An owl
  8. A winged man with spotted skirt and head-dress
  9. A left facing kangaroo like figure with wings
  10. A winged man with spotted skirt blowing a horn
  11. A symmetrical human head with leaves
  12. Two parrots
  13. A bird facing upwards
  14. A winged animal with long body and tail and wolf’s head
  15. A bird with spread wings

The left side of the pillar:

  1. Dragon with a curly tail and small wing
  2. Bird
  3. Flower with seed pod
  4. Flower with seed pod
  5. Dragon with a curly tail
  6. Dragon facing right
  7. Rose and seed pod
  8. Flower like a banana flower
  9. Dragon figure
  10. Bird
  11. Exotic flower with seed pods
  12. Exotic flower with seed pods