Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church, largely dating to the mid-15th century. It consists of a nave, north aisle, and north porch, which were restored between 1864 and 1870. A tower was added in 1864, followed by a chancel and south vestry in 1875, all designed by E.L. Blackburne in a modified Perpendicular style influenced by French Gothic architecture.

The church is constructed from random flint rubble with stone dressings, and has pantiled roofs to the nave, and plaintiled roofs to the chancel and vestry, all incorporating crest tiles. The tower is located at the east end of the north aisle, and is square with angle buttresses, a staircase turret at the southeast corner, and string courses. It features large two-light bell chamber openings with quatrefoil panels and a crenellated parapet with flushwork and pinnacles. The three-bay north aisle has three-light Perpendicular windows. The porch, slightly earlier than the aisle, has a moulded entrance arch with a cusped niche above. A 14th-century moulded arch marks the doorway to the nave. The west front has flanking turrets topped with spirelets, and a four-light window, while the south side has three three-light Perpendicular windows and three flying buttresses. The two-bay chancel has a four-light east window below a flushwork frieze and an inscription dedicated to Johannes Rous, Earl of Stradbroke, dated 1875. Both the nave and chancel have flat parapets.

Inside, there is a three-bay arcade, the eastern bay created in the 19th century. The nave and aisle are unusually wide. The nave has a four-bay 15th-century roof with arched-braced tie beams, high collars, and bosses, including some sculpted as human heads. The aisle also has a three-bay 15th-century roof. The chancel is adorned with an ornate four-bay roof with arched-bracing and angels at the foot of each wallpost. A 15th-century octagonal font features a quatrefoil panel on each face of the bowl. A fine reading desk and pulpit, originally part of a 17th-century structure at Henham Hall, exhibit elaborate inlaid work. The chancel includes good choirstalls and a carved stone reredos, piscina, and sedilia, all dating from 1875. The aisle contains wall monuments to Sir John Rous (1652) and John Rous (1771), while the south nave wall is home to monuments to John, First Earl of Stradbroke (1827) by Behnes, and to John Rous (1730), which comprises a Rococo cartouche against an obelisk, with three winged cherubs below. Several windows contain stained glass from the late 19th century.