Monument record TDD 005 - Church of St Mary

St Mary's church is within diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, archdeaconry of Sudbury, deanery of Mildenhall. Status : rectory (S1). Structure is : chancel, nave, S aisle, S porch, W tower. The style of architecture is largely Decorated. Most of the fabric of the church, including the porch, is C14. The chancel contains a Decorated E window of 3 lights wehich has reticulated tracery. The top reticulation motif has been replaced by a circle enclosing 3 cusped spherical triangles. The window is flanked by niches on the inside. The side windows of the chancel are Perpendicular. In the S wall near the E end of the chancel was a piscina but this has now been stopped up. There is a stone seat in a window on the S side of the chancel. The chancel arch is Perpendicular. In the nave there is a tomb recess in the N wall. The font is a plain stone octagon, the pedestal having small pillars at the four corners. There is disagreement as to the date : Bryant claims it is Norman, whereas Baker says it is very good C14 work. On the N side of the nave the upper windows are Perpendicular, the lower ones are good Decorated. The W window is circular and deeply splayed. The nave roof is a strict reproduction in oak of the old one, a simple hammer-beam and arch-braced roof of C15. The clerestory is Perpendicular with 3 clerestory windows on the N side and 4 on the S. A set-off externally on the N wall shows where the C15 clerestory was added. The arcade has 4 pointed and double-chamfered arches, supported by 3 octagon plain pillars. The windows of the S aisle are mostly Decorated but the E window is Perpendicular and contains old stained glass. In the NE corner of the S aisle are the stairs to the rood loft. In the S wall, at the E end, was a piscina. The W tower is of flints, square and embattled with 2 buttresses. Over the door, on the W side, are niches and a quatrefoil window. The tower is Perpendicular in style. The S porch is tall and gabled, the side windows have 'Y' tracery. There are some good old oak seats in the church, some with poppyheads and others with animals (S2).

A major restoration of the church was undertaken by C Kirk of Sleaford in 1876. A new vestry was built and the flat chancel roof was removed to reveal previously hidden tracery. Unfortunately an alien form replaced the original design. The S aisle was extended and the nave given a new roof, a reproduction in oak of the old hammer-beam one. Where possible old carvings were kept and reused (S2).

Evaluation test pits revealed that immediately below the existing Victorian tiled floor in both trenches, evidence of an earlier chalk and suspended timber floor was uncovered, likely to be of post-medieval date. Below this in Trench 1 was a solid mortar layer embedded with flints. This was interpreted as structural evidence, either relating to steps associated with the west door or perhaps a former floor surface. Below the chalk floor in Trench 2 were numerous thin layers of rammed earth and chalk. These layers were present to the full excavated depth which was 0.6m below the tiled floor and 0.25m below the level of the nave floor. This was located directly below the tower arch and is believed to be a medieval earth footing, likely to be contemporary with the construction of the tower. Whilst no definite in situ medieval floor surfaces were identified within the test pits, fragments of glazed medieval floor tiles were recovered which suggest that at least a part of the church floor was once decorated with these. In both trenches, the deposits present suggest that the medieval floor levels would have been higher than the current level of the floor in the nave. As such, the tower body is likely to be the only area of the church where deposits contemporary with the medieval construction are preserved (S3).