Church Of St Mary

A medieval parish church that has been substantially restored, standing on Church Road. The building comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower, and north and south porches (the south porch now functioning as a chapel). It is constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings; the south aisle has 19th-century knapped flint facing. The nave and aisle roofs are leaded, while the chancel is plaintiled.

The fine 15th-century square tower rises in four stages with diagonal buttresses. The plinth and deep embattled parapet feature fine flushwork. A moulded west doorway with shield-carved spandrels is topped by a 3-light window, and paired 2-light belfry openings pierce the upper stages.

Both aisles originate from the 13th century and retain original doorways of that period. The south doorway has three orders of colonnettes with the outer order keel-moulded, and a richly-moulded arch. The north doorway has similar jambs but a narrower, less richly-moulded arch. Windows in the south aisle are mostly renewed with Y tracery; the 3-light east window has reticulated tracery. The north aisle retains mostly original 2 and 3-light 14th-century windows under pointed segmental arches, with a 15th-century 3-light east window.

The fine 15th-century porches display good flushwork. The south porch has a moulded entrance arch with shield-carved spandrels and a central canopied image niche. Its original 2-bay roof features angels at the foot of each wallpost, carved spandrels to end braces, and wallplates with brattishing. The north porch has a moulded entrance enriched with fleurons and a much-weathered angel at the apex; eroded shields appear in the spandrels, with flanking canopied niches. At the level of the upper chamber is a further canopied niche flanked by 2-light windows renewed in the 1980s. The embattled parapet retains original and well-preserved pinnacles at each corner, carved as lions and wild men. A 5-bay clerestorey contains 2-light shallow-arched windows, probably 15th-century, and a good set of gargoyles runs below the embattled parapet.

The 14th-century chancel has two 3-light windows to the south under segmental arches, and two windows in Perpendicular style to the north (one mostly original). A 5-light east window was inserted in 1864. Internally, the chancel has 14th-century shafted jambs. At the junction of the chancel and north aisle stands a circular brick rood stair turret of approximately 1500.

Inside, the church contains 13th-century 6-bay arcades with circular piers and abaci. The sixth (east) bay is separated from the remainder by a short length of wall; the adjacent arch is carried by corbels, that to the south decorated with dog-tooth ornament. The arch of the sixth bay has short vertical sections above the capital, probably intended to accommodate parclose screens enclosing chapels. The 13th-century chancel arch has a similar form.

The nave and chancel roofs were renewed in 1864–66; the nave roof has a panelled canopy of honour, partly 15th-century. A restored medieval crown-post roof covers the south aisle, with moulded tie beams retaining remains of original painted decoration. The north aisle roof is substantially medieval. The east window of the north aisle is shafted and incorporates a central image niche for a chapel altar with a cusped segmental arch on demi colonnettes, the canopy now lost. A 4-centre arched entrance to the rood stands adjacent to the stair.

The furnishings include a trefoil piscina in the south aisle and a plain 15th-century octagonal font. A fine font cover and pulpit, both dated 1630 and made by John Turner of Mendlesham, survive; the font cover was restored in 1908, and the pulpit was set on a stone base in 1866. A good set of 15th-century poppyhead benches, many with carved ends and backs and some retaining carved figures on arm-rests, is present; some were restored in the 19th century. At the east end of the nave is a brass of John Knyvet (1417) in armour, though the inscription and all but one of the shields are missing. Arms of George III appear in the south aisle.

The chamber over the north porch has been used as the town armoury since 1593 and contains a collection of 23 pieces rated as "the most complete armoury of any English parish church" (Pevsner).