Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Erwarton

Overview and Dating

Parish church with a 15th-century chancel, which was shortened around 1782. According to White's Directory of Suffolk, the church was 'rebuilt 1837'. The nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, north porch, and west tower all date from the 15th century. Construction is mainly of septaria, random flint and ashlar, with red brick repairs and a plastered south wall to the south aisle. The chancel roof is grey slate; the nave and aisle roofs are not visible above the parapets but are possibly lead.

Chancel

The chancel has buttresses to the eastern angles. The 19th-century east window has four cinquefoil lights with wheel tracery above, a chamfered two-centred head, and a label with king and queen stops. A plaque beneath the window states 'This Chapel rebuilt and Church repaired 1838'. The north wall window has two trefoiled lights with trefoils and a quatrefoil above. A parapet verge and band of stone and red brick continue through the north and south aisles.

Nave

The parapet verge and band continue through the returns. There are six clerestory windows on both the north and south walls, each with two trefoiled lights, moulded four-centred heads and labels.

South Aisle

The south aisle is buttressed at the angles. It has one window in each of the east and west walls and two in the south wall, all with three trefoiled ogee lights, vertical tracery above, moulded four-centred heads and labels. A blocked doorway in the south-west corner has a moulded two-centred head and label.

North Aisle

The north aisle is buttressed at the angles and between the windows. It has four windows similar to those in the south aisle.

North Porch

The north porch is buttressed at the northern angles. It has a stone parapet verge and band, and a hollow-chamfered two-centred arch of four orders with a square head. The spandrels feature carved Tudor roses.

West Tower

The west tower has red brick repairs to the third stage and parapet. It is of three stages, buttressed at the angles, with stone bands to each stage and moulded bands to the plinth. An angled stair turret rises to the second stage at the south-east corner, with three square-headed lights and one trefoiled light in a square head.

The repaired bell chamber has two tie-plates on the north and south faces and four tie-plates on the east and west faces. Each face has a restored or repaired two-light window. The south and west windows retain fragments of the original windows, with two cinquefoiled lights, tracery above and four-centred heads. The east and north windows have short Y-tracery and two-centred heads; all are partially blocked. The north, south and west faces of the second stage each have a small trefoiled light under a square head and label.

The west window has three cinquefoiled lights above and below a centre transom, with vertical tracery above, a segmental head, and a label that carries through as a band. The west doorway has a moulded two-centred arch, moulded square head and label with crowned lion stops, a carved angel above the apex, and shields of arms in the spandrels. Double-nailed vertically-boarded doors have strap hinges.

Interior: North Porch

The north porch has a moulded side purlin ridge board roof of two bays, with moulded arched braces to moulded collars, moulded wall plates, moulded wall posts and brackets. The floor is red square tile. A chamfered niche with a pointed head is located in the north-west corner. The north doorway has a moulded two-centred arch and label, with a Gothic panelled door.

Interior: Chancel

The chancel roof has three bays, with moulded side purlins, ridge board and principal rafters. It has moulded and crenellated wall plates and four bosses to the ridge board. Wall posts have moulded bases and crenellated capitals to attached shafts, with arched braces to the principal rafters. There is no reredos.

The floor throughout is diagonal red and yellow tile with some red tiles set square. There are five 17th- and 18th-century floor slabs to the Parker and Cornwallis families. The altar rails are 19th-century, with wrought-iron posts with scrollwork and a moulded wood top rail. There is no piscina.

The chancel arch is chamfered and two-centred, of three orders, resting on attached polygonal shafts with continuous moulded capitals and bases.

Interior: Nave

The nave roof has six cambered bays, with moulded side purlins, ridge board and wall plates. Wall posts rest on stone corbels with attached shafts, moulded capitals and bases, and arched braces to cambered tie-beams. The floor is diagonal red and yellow tile.

A black marble floor slab commemorates Dorothy Gandy, wife of Sir Philip Parker, 1638, with a coat of arms. The pews have poppyhead ends with foliate carving.

The 15th-century stone octagonal font has a bowl carved with lions and angels alternating with Tudor roses in sunk panels, carved roses to the soffit, and four lions against the stem with buttresses between. It rests on two square base slabs with chamfered corners.

A 17th-century wooden chest has three carved arcaded panels with continuous arcading above, moulded angles, and a lid of three panels.

The north and south arcades have three bays, with hollow-chamfered two-centred arches and attached shafts to the east and west of each column with moulded capitals and bases. The clerestory windows have simple four-centred heads. The west tower arch is tall and similar to the arcade arches.

Interior: North Aisle

The north aisle has a lean-to roof of six bays, with moulded centre purlin and rafters and moulded wall plates.

A floor slab by the north doorway commemorates Penelope, wife of Thomas Cornwallis, 1693. A wall monument to Sir Philip Parker, 1736, has an inscription tablet with scrolled sides to the base, a broken pediment, and a carved and painted coat of arms with bearers and crest in a painted frame. A floor slab with brass commemorates Katherine, Lady Cornwallis, 1636.

On the north wall is a monument said to be to Isabel Bacon, daughter of Sir Bartholomew Daviller, circa 1300. It depicts an effigy of a lady praying, her head on a pillow, wearing a gown and wimple, lying on a chest tomb with a cusped and crocketed pediment, canopy above, side pinnacles with finials, and a depressed arch.

To the east of the aisle, attached to the 1912 organ, is a copy of a drawing of Queen Anne Boleyn by Holbein. A note underneath relates 'That after her execution in the Tower of London, 19 May 1536, it was recorded that her heart was buried in this church by her Uncle, Sir Philip Parker of Erwarton Hall. A casket was discovered in 1837 and placed in the Cornwallis family vault beneath the organ'.

Interior: South Aisle

The south aisle roof has six bays, with moulded tie-beams and centre purlins, and moulded and carved wall plates with the date 1650 on the south wall.

The pulpit is 19th- or 20th-century, octagonal with traceried panels, a crenellated soffit with pendants, and trefoiled panels with spandrels to the stem. Coats of arms decorate the pulpit panels. The steps have traceried panels and a crenellated soffit. The east wall window has a low cill.

A niche in the south-east corner has a moulded and crocketed trefoiled ogee arch with a crow-stepped head. Two 1915 stained glass memorial windows are in the south-east corner. A black marble floor slab commemorates Sir Philip Parker and family, 1740.

Below the south-east window is said to be a fragment of a monument to Sir Philip Calthorpe, died 1549, consisting of four panels, a moulded base, five fluted colonnettes, an entablature, blank shields to panels, a black marble shelf, and crested arms above. Not in situ below this monument is a floor slab with indents of a man in armour with a crested helm and shield below. A much-worn floor slab is possibly to Parker, 1723.

Between the south wall windows is a monument, said to be circa 1400, to Sir Bartholomew Bacon, died 1391, and Joan, his wife, died 1435. It has a canopy with cusped and crocketed pediment, side pinnacles with finials, and a depressed arch. The effigies of a knight and lady were undergoing restoration elsewhere at the time of resurvey.

Also in the south wall, to the west of the west window, is a monument depicting the effigy of a cross-legged knight wearing chain mail, his feet resting on a lion, his head on a pillow, holding a shield of arms and sword. Said to be Sir Bartholomew Daviller, the effigy rests on a later chest tomb with five front panels bearing shields in quatrefoils and a chamfered four-centred arch above.

Wall brasses commemorate: Philip Parker (black letter brass), Lady Katherine Hanmer 1747, Lady Dowager Martha Chedworth 1773, Dame Martha Parker Long 1758, Sir Philip Parker 1740, and Mrs Elizabeth Plunkett 1757. A wall tablet commemorates Frederick Philip Forster Wood, killed in action at Kandahar, Afghanistan, 1880.

The north door is vertically boarded with edge moulding.