Church of St Gregory is a Grade I listed building in the Mid Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 December 1955. Church.
Church of St Gregory
- WRENN ID
- distant-belfry-sorrel
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Mid Suffolk
- Constituency
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP: Patrick Spencer (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 9 December 1955
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Gregory, Church Lane, Hemingstone
- OS grid reference
- TM 144 536
- Coordinates
- 52.13947, 1.13268
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Gregory is a medieval parish church, with significant features dating to the mid-14th century and early 16th century. It comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, north porch, and vestry. Constructed mainly of plastered rubble with freestone dressings, the south-west corner of the nave exhibits prominent long-and-short quoining, possibly from the 11th century. The roof is covered in plain tiles. The north and south moulded doorways into the nave date to the mid-14th century; the north door is likely from the early 16th century. The tower doorway has a 14th-century iron-bound door. Three mid-14th-century traceried windows are present, one retaining original glass in the tracery. A plain, cusped piscina is from the late 14th or 15th century. The tower was built or remodelled in the early 16th century, featuring flushed flintwork, embattled parapets, traceried belfry openings and a large west window. Early 16th-century windows are found in the nave and chancel, with those on the north side having much 18th-century crown glass. The east window was restored in the 16th century. The north porch, dating to around 1530, is constructed of red brick with diaper patterning created with burnt headers, and features good moulded brick detailing on the doorway, the niche above, and the side windows. The porch roof has coupled rafters without collars. A continuous roof, dating from around 1500, covers the nave and chancel; it has a canted construction, a moulded cornice, and a rood-beam. The southern half of an early 16th-century roodscreen survives up to dado level. The late 14th-century octagonal limestone font has a plain stem and a carved bowl with crocketed gables and tracery. In the chancel is a tomb-chest to William Cantrel (died 1585), featuring pilasters at the base, an inscription framed by Corinthian columns and an entablature, and above, two obelisks and a shell. A small room to the north of the chancel was added around 1600, now a vestry but of uncertain original purpose. This room is constructed of red brick, retains fragments of original plaster, has plain chamfered openings, and has a side purlin roof. Painted texts adorn the walls, with one above the north door recording repairs from 1773. Two large marble slabs are set into the outer south wall, commemorating Francis and William Thorne, who died in 1704 and 1718 respectively. Two late 18th-century marble slabs are in the chancel floor. Two coats of arms are in the vestry, one depicting William and Mary.
Local climate
Church of St Gregory 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 91% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 67% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 24 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 74% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 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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