Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building in the East Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 March 1966. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- solemn-hinge-torch
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- East Suffolk
- Constituency
- Suffolk Coastal MP: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 16 March 1966
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Mary, High Road, Trimley St. Mary
- OS grid reference
- TM 276 369
- Coordinates
- 51.9847, 1.3145
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a parish church that dates back to the early 14th century. The tower was rebuilt around 1430 to 1450, and the south porch is likely from the same period. The nave and chancel underwent significant restoration in the mid-19th century when the vestry was added. The exterior features septaria that has been repaired with red brick and rendered, along with plain tile roofs. Originally, the tower had three stages, but the upper stage was rebuilt in 1960 and rendered. The original 14th-century west doorway has a square hood mould with a frieze of shields above it, also from the 14th century. The spandrels contain shields displaying the arms of Sir William de Riermon, Cavendish, and Chawdrey. Above the west door is a late 19th-century window in a perpendicular style. The north doorway, dating from the 14th century, is flanked by corbel heads, with a head at the apex of the ogee arch. The tower is supported by diagonal buttresses. The 15th-century south porch features original perpendicular lateral windows.
Inside, the church has a notable interior with a 13th-century chancel and 15th-century tower arches. The chancel arch includes moulded shafts and hood moulds, with mortice holes indicating the former location of a rood screen. There is a blocked upper entrance to the rood loft stairs, marked by an arch in the north wall. A 15th-century piscina is located in the south wall of the sanctuary. Near the south door, there is a 15th-century bench with carved poppy heads, and a similar bench has been converted into a liturgical desk under the tower. The vestry contains a 17th-century Holy Table. The church is believed to have been founded in the 13th century by Thomas de Brotherton, the son of Edward I.
Local climate
Church of St Mary sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 79% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 70% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 11 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 89% of listed buildings. Of these, 6 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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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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