Former Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building in the Mid Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 July 1955. A Medieval Church.

Former Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
night-facade-grain
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Mid Suffolk
Constituency
Waveney Valley MP: Adrian Ramsay (Green)
Country
England
Date first listed
29 July 1955
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Former Church of St Mary, Priory Lane, Braiseworth
OS grid reference
TM 137 713
Coordinates
52.29842, 1.134
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The former Church of St Mary is a disused chancel of a parish church located in Braiseworth, with its core dating back to the 12th century and early alterations made in the 14th century. The structure is built of flint rubble with some remnants of render and features stone dressings. The west end is constructed from 19th-century red brick and has a plaintiled roof. On the northwest side, there is a 12th-century lancet window alongside a larger trefoil-headed lancet. The south wall includes a square-headed 15th-century window with two lights and a simple early 14th-century priest's doorway. There is a blocked window on the southeast side, with its splay visible from the inside. The east end was rebuilt around 1300 and features a Y-traceried window. At the west end, small portions of the nave walls have been preserved as buttresses.

Inside, the church has a coupled-rafter roof with straight collar braces and ashlar pieces, with a few replacement timbers but otherwise retaining its medieval character. There is a two-centre arched piscina with a credence shelf, and a small trefoil-headed niche located to the north of the east window. The west wall displays the faded Arms of George III and framed 18th-century copies of the Lord's Prayer, Commandments, and Creed. On either side of the east window are very faint painted panels that likely contained the Creed and Lord's Prayer, dating to the early 17th century. Additionally, there is an effigy brass dedicated to Alexander Newton from 1569. The church was replaced by a new church in 1858, which incorporated the nave doorways, and it was later used as a cemetery chapel.

Local climate

Former Church of St Mary sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 92% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 63% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 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.

More on this building

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  1. Old Church Farmhouse Grade II 81 m
  2. Priory Farmhouse Grade II 424 m
  3. Church of St Mary Grade II 631 m
  4. Braiseworth War Memorial Grade II 649 m
  5. Rectory Farmhouse Grade II 659 m
  6. Numbers 55 and 56 (Estate Numbers) Grade II 751 m
  7. Allen's Farmhouse Grade II 987 m
  8. Braiseworth Old Hall Grade II 1.0 km
  9. Alder Carr Lodge Grade II 1.0 km
  10. Park Lodge Grade II 1.1 km