Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the East Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 November 1954. A {Medieval,C13,"late C13","early C16 (probably)","mid C19","late C19","C12 or C13"} Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- kindled-screen-dawn
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- East Suffolk
- Constituency
- Lowestoft MP: Jess Asato (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 November 1954
- Type
- Church
- Period
- {Medieval,C13,"late C13","early C16 (probably)","mid C19","late C19","C12 or C13"}
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet
- OS grid reference
- TM 489 990
- Coordinates
- 52.53227, 1.66954
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St. Mary is a Grade I listed parish church with medieval origins, featuring a nave, chancel, and west tower. It is constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings and has a continuous thatched roof. The lower third of the tower is round and includes a lancet west window, while the upper part is octagonal with red brick angles and brick lancet belfry openings on each face, topped with a crenellated parapet. Both sections of the tower were likely rebuilt in the early 16th century. The nave dates back to the 13th century and retains some original lancet windows along with 2-light windows in the Perpendicular style. The south doorway is simply double-chamfered, while the north doorway has been bricked up. The late 13th-century chancel was re-faced in the mid-19th century, featuring original lancet and Y-traceried windows on the north and south sides, along with a 4-light east window that appears to have been renewed in the mid-19th century.
Inside, there is no chancel arch, and the nave has a coupled rafter roof, with many of the trusses likely being medieval. The chancel has a mid-19th-century boarded ceiling. In the sanctuary, there is a trefoil-arched piscina and drop-sill sedilia. A rood loft stair is located in the south wall of the nave. The square font, made of Purbeck marble and dating from the 12th or 13th century, has small remnants of decoration and features a round shaft with four turned wooden corner supports, likely added in the 16th or 17th century. The church also contains mid and late 19th-century furnishings, and three consecration crosses can be seen on the walls, two in the nave and one in the chancel.
Local climate
Church of St Mary receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 78% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 6 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 96% of listed buildings. Of these, 4 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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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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