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A new era of church building began in the late 14th century when
the wool trade made East Anglia one of the richest counties of England.
Rebuilding campaigns were everywhere and the roofs became great statements
of power and aspirations. The roof is up among the angels, and angels
(all nine choirs of them) became major objects of devotion. The parish
churches developed a great tradition of timber hammerbeam roofs with eloquent
figures of angels floating out over the populace. Dorothy Sayers's
mystery, The Nine Tailors, is set in this area and has an angel
roof as a major character. H. Munro Cautley, who was engaged in the
repair of many East Anglian roofs and examined them from scaffolds, bared
and even dismembered in the case of major repairs, states that his admiration
was “increased by a fuller knowledge of the carpenter’s skill. It
is amazing to find no trace of iron bolts, straps, or mails. The
most elaborate structures rely on framing alone, the various parts being
merely morticed and tenoned together and fixed with wooden pins.”
(Suffolk Churches (1982), 89).
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