Church Of St Mary At The Elms

CHURCH OF ST MARY AT THE ELMS

A medieval parish church with origins in the late 11th or early 12th century, substantially altered and extended in the 19th century. The building combines flint rubble and brick construction with stone dressings, tiled and leaded roofs, and comprises a nave with north aisle and transept, chancel with south organ chamber and north vestries, west tower, and south porch.

The earliest work is the south doorway, which dates to the early 12th century and features two orders: the inner with a roll moulding, the outer with chevron decoration on nook shafts with cushion capitals. The south door itself, with elaborate scrolled ironwork, is also from this period. The west tower, built in the 16th century, is constructed of brick with polygonal buttresses, a stepped embattled parapet, and a polygonal northeast stair turret. The bell openings are in pairs of two lights under a broad depressed head with a thick mullion between. The three-light west window has vertical tracery.

The north side of the church spans several phases. The western two bays, built in brick in the late 15th or early 16th century, are followed by the third bay, which has a cross gable and represents the remains of the north transept. The eastern two bays were added in 1883 as part of a major eastwards extension. Low north vestries date to the late 19th or early 20th century. The nave and chancel windows are largely 19th century and Perpendicular in style, replacing medieval windows. The south side retains a red brick parapet, with buttresses marking the former south transept. The south porch contains three niches over the entryway that originally held sculpture, with new sculpture by Charles Gurrey installed in 2006.

The interior is largely plastered and painted. A very tall 16th-century tower arch rises the full height of the nave, with a depressed head and multiple mouldings. The north arcade has five bays: the western two, dating to the late 15th or early 16th century, have a continuous outer order and an inner order on polygonal shafts with moulded capitals and high bases. The third bay, separated by a long pier and representing the arch into the north transept, is contemporary with these. The eastern bays were added in 1883 with clustered shafts. The chancel arch is ornamented with paterae and shields set into a hollow moulding. A blocked chancel east window has a large crucifix hanging against it. The former chancel, now incorporated into the nave, is marked by a change in wall alignment and ceiling line. The roof of the nave, including the former chancel, is a 18th-century plaster ceiling, probably concealing a late medieval roof beneath. The north aisle and transept have late 15th or early 16th-century low-pitched roofs with moulded wall plates and beams. The 19th-century chancel roof stands on carved corbels.

Among the church's fixtures are a medieval stoup by the south door, a Gothic Revival font of the 1870s by Mr Ireland of Princes Street, carved with gospel scenes and evangelists, and an early 20th-century timber screen under the tower arch. Stained glass includes a north aisle window of 1907 by Ninian Comper and nave windows of 1879-80 signed Taylor late O'Connor. The south porch contains a sculpted rood triptych by Charles Gurrey (2006). Wall monuments span the 17th to 19th centuries, including a hanging monument to William Acton (died 1616) featuring kneeling figures beneath a dart-wielding skeleton. A hatchment of Charles II's Royal Arms also survives.

The church's early history is complex. A church dedicated to St Saviour stood near this site in the 11th century. St Mary at the Elms was first mentioned in 1204, when both it and St Saviour's were listed as possessions of the Augustinian priory of Holy Trinity, Ipswich. St Saviour's subsequently disappeared, probably before the end of the 13th century. The present church building was likely in existence by the early 12th century, and was certainly known as St Mary at the Elms by the 14th century. The south porch was probably added in the 14th century, and the transepts may date to the 14th century or earlier. A brick north aisle was added in the late 15th or early 16th century, and the present west tower was built in the early 16th century. The south transept was demolished at an unknown, probably post-medieval date.

The south porch was repaired in 1848, and further restoration work was undertaken in 1860 by R M Phipson. In 1883 the east end of the church underwent major alteration to designs by E F Bisshopp: the former chancel area was taken into the nave, and a new chancel with south organ chamber was built, with the north aisle extended eastwards. The north vestry and organ chamber were added shortly afterwards. Bisshopp was an Ipswich-based church architect who also served as surveyor to the diocese of Norwich from 1885.