Church of St Ethelbert is a Grade II* listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 July 1958. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Ethelbert
- WRENN ID
- ghost-cobalt-harvest
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Breckland
- Constituency
- Mid Norfolk MP: George Freeman (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 16 July 1958
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Ethelbert, Wretham
- OS grid reference
- TL 915 906
- Coordinates
- 52.48002, 0.81863
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Ethelbert is a parish church located in Wretham, originally built in the 12th century and rebuilt in 1865. The structure is made of flint with ashlar quoins and features tiled roofs. It has a west tower with three stages and a saddleback roof, along with two-light belfry windows. The nave and chancel are adorned with two-light windows in the Decorated style, and there is a three-light east window in the chancel.
The south porch contains a re-used 12th-century doorway with three orders—nailhead, roll, and zig-zag—along with fine waterleaf capitals. Inside, the church features circular piers and waterleaf capitals from the 1865 restoration, as well as moulded arcades. The chancel arch is supported by triple engaged columns, leading to a tall moulded archway. The interior also includes finely carved naturalistic foliage flanking the 19th-century sedilia and a piscina of similar date. Additionally, there is an elaborate font and font cover designed in the style of the 14th century, and the nave and north aisle boast good timber roofs.
Local climate
Church of St Ethelbert sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 84% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 30 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 65% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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