Church Of St Margaret

The Church of St. Margaret is a parish church located in Heveningham. It dates back to the medieval period and was restored between 1847 and 1866. The church consists of a nave, chancel, south aisle, west tower, north transept, north vestry, and south porch. Its construction features random flint and stone rubble, with the clerestory and upper part of the chancel made of red brick. The chancel retains some old plasterwork, while the aisle and north nave are covered in cement render. The roofs of the nave and chancel are slated.

The early 15th-century tower has three-stage diagonal buttresses on the west face and a later crenellated brick parapet. It includes a simple west doorway, a two-light west window, and two-light openings in the bell chamber. The 15th-century aisle has three bays and features two renewed two-light windows from the 19th century. The simple 15th-century porch has a facade of knapped flint and an original door leading into the nave.

Inside, the nave contains a 15th-century three-light window on the north side and a six-bay clerestory with early 16th-century three-light brick windows, five of which have been altered. The chancel, dating from the 14th century, has restored windows and a Priest's doorway, with the east window featuring internal shafts. The aisle arcade consists of five bays supported by octagonal piers. The early 16th-century double hammerbeam roof of the nave has six bays, with pierced tracery above the hammerbeams and canopied wallposts adorned with carved wooden figures. The chancel roof is a five-bay arched-braced structure, likely from the 16th century, while the aisle roof is early 17th century, supported by carved brackets.

Notable features include a fine ogee-headed image niche with original coloring in the east respond of the easternmost arch of the aisle arcade, a 15th-century carved octagonal font, and a 15th-century font from Ubbeston church against the north nave wall. The north transept contains a family pew, likely from the late 18th century, which incorporates some early 17th-century carved panels. The chancel arch has squints on either side, and above it are the Royal Arms of George III. An angle piscina is located in the chancel, and at the east end of the aisle lies a recumbent mutilated wooden effigy of a knight, probably Sir John Heveningham, who died in 1425, or his father, also Sir John, who died in 1379. The church is listed for its medieval fabric.