Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a parish church located on Church Hill in Saxlingham Nethergate. It dates from the medieval period and has undergone later alterations. The building is constructed of flint with ashlar and some brick dressings, topped with slate and leaded roofs.

The church features a 15th-century west tower, which has diagonal buttresses, two-light traceried bell-openings, and a polygonal stair turret on the north side. The tower is capped with a crenellated parapet that includes brick and flint chequered flushwork. On the south face of the tower, there is a single-handed chiming clock from 1794, flanked by pilasters and accompanied by a sundial.

The main structure of the nave and chancel is believed to date from the 11th or 12th century, with enhancements made in the late Middle Ages. The nave includes two late Perpendicular three-light windows on the south side, featuring embattled and cusped transoms and shallow heads. The chancel has two two-light windows with trefoil heads and a three-light east window in the Perpendicular style. The north aisle and vestry were added in 1867, and the north arcade, also from 1867, is designed in the Perpendicular style.

A medieval south door made of vertical fielded planks with cover strips remains intact. Inside, there is a cusped angle piscina in the chancel and remnants of the original 11th or 12th-century south door, which includes the springing of an undressed arch from a plain impost made of reused brick or tile. The church also houses a 15th-century octagonal font supported by lions, with additional lion and angel motifs in the panels, although the angels have been re-cut. Notably, there are important fragments of medieval stained glass present in the church.