Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 23 June 1960. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
odd-panel-marsh
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Breckland
Constituency
South West Norfolk MP: Terry Jermy (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
23 June 1960
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Mary, Sporle with Palgrave
OS grid reference
TF 849 114
Coordinates
52.66931, 0.73453
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating from the medieval period with later additions. It is constructed of flint with ashlar and brick dressings. The church includes a west tower, an aisled nave, and a chancel flanked by an extension of the north aisle.

The west tower is of 13th and 14th century origin, featuring angle buttresses and a rectangular stair projection to the south east. A 13th-century west door has three pairs of shafts supporting deeply cut mouldings. Above the door is a niche with a foiled arch, capped by a triangular hood mould with carved head label stops. A lancet window is located on the south side. At the first floor is a fine 2-light cusped Y-traceried window, and the bell openings are also 2-light cusped Y-traceried. The tower is topped with a crenellated parapet incorporating blind tracery and corner finals.

The north aisle contains a blocked 13th-century north door, previously held by a pair of shafts, now missing, beneath a rectangular hood mould. A late-medieval 3-light west window is present along with two 3-light Perpendicular windows. A re-set 14th-century 3-light reticulated window (likely originally situated in a former chapel) and three 19th-century windows, imitating Perpendicular style, are also incorporated. In the south side, four 3-light angular Perpendicular windows and a 14th-century wave-moulded doorway with two orders are located. Ten 2-light clearstorey windows dating from the late medieval period are present.

The 13th-century chancel exhibits a rebuilt south wall, including a priest's doorway and a 3-light window without tracery. An unusual 13th-century east window consists of three lancets with an octofoil above, all contained within a moulded arch.

Inside, the tower arch is of two plain chamfered orders without responds. A damaged 14th-century stoup is located in the south respond, featuring broken tracery. Four bay arcades of the early 14th century are present, with quatrefoil piers with intermediate fillets supporting plain, chamfered arches of two orders. The easternmost bay is lower and divided from the main arcade by a blank wall, indicating a former transeptal arrangement. The chancel arch is double-ogee and plain chamfered on semi-circular responds. A north arcade in the chancel features a rebuilt quatrefoil pier with responds supporting hollow chamfered arches. The east window has a moulded scoinson arch, flanked by two small 13th-century niches with blind quatrefoils. The nave has a restored 15th-century arch braced roof with short king posts onto collars. A former rood stair to the south now leads to a projecting 19th-century pulpit in Decorated style. A 14th-century piscina is situated beneath an ogee arch in the south aisle. Remains of a 15th-century parclose screen and a late-medieval cyclical wall painting are found in the south aisle. A 13th-century octagonal Purbeck marble font, with shallow blank arcading, is supported by nine limestone shafts without articulation, on a tall octagonal plinth with four flights of steps.

Local climate

Church of St Mary sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 88% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 28 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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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