Church Of St Margaret

Church of St Margaret

This parish church at Thrandeston Little Green is primarily a 15th-century building, with the exception of the chancel which dates to the 13th century. It was restored during the period circa 1870-1880. The church is constructed of knapped flint with ashlar dressings, with all but the tower rendered in cement. The nave is roofed in slate, whilst the chancel roof is covered in 19th-century blue and green decoratively banded tiles.

The church comprises a four-bay nave with north and south aisles and porches, a chancel (which is lower than the nave and inclines slightly to the south), a north vestry, and a west tower.

The chancel was refenestrated in the 15th century. The east window is a large three-light opening with unusual restored Perpendicular tracery. A 19th-century brick plinth supports a moulded kneeler to the coped gable parapet, which carries a ridge cross. A two-stage diagonal buttress projects to the south-east. The south elevation of the chancel features three two-light square-headed windows, each with cusped ogee-headed lights and mask-stopped hoodmoulds, a chamfered pointed-arched doorway, and a two-stage buttress. To the north, a single window is present, with a 15th-century two-storey vestry to the north-east, a tiny cusped two-light window to the north (with a mask spout), a crenellated parapet, two-stage diagonal buttresses, and a two-light Perpendicular window to the east.

The nave features a four-window clerestorey of two-light Perpendicular windows, with a coped gable parapet to the east. The south aisle incorporates a restored three-light traceried window under a depressed arch towards the east, and a similar two-light window towards the west, with a string course and grotesque mask spouts supporting a crenellated parapet. Two-stage diagonal buttresses to the returns contain a three-light Perpendicular window to the east. The large south porch has an outer pointed arch with complex mouldings dying into chamfered jambs, a moulded plinth, and above the entrance a niche containing a figure of St Margaret. Two-stage diagonal buttresses flank the opening—the eastern one bears a scratch dial. A shallow gable interrupts the crenellated parapet, which continues from the aisle. The porch returns have two-light square-headed windows with ogee-headed lights, whilst a pointed inner arch of two hollow-moulded orders and an early moulded boarded door complete the interior.

The north aisle contains two two-light windows: one square-headed with cusped pointed-arched lights and cusped square panels at the head, the other of a more typical Perpendicular form. A string course runs beneath a plain parapet, with a diagonal buttress to the north-east and a straight buttress to the north-west. The returns have two-light windows with square heads and unusual cusped and arched traceried heads. The short gabled north porch features a 19th-century outer arch, a 15th-century hollow and ovolo-moulded inner arch, and an early boarded door with iron straps and hinges.

The large three-stage west tower is of high-quality knapped and squared flint with flushwork near the base. It is built upon a double plinth (triple to the west) and features a quatrefoil flushwork frieze. To the west, an upper star and shield frieze carries three relief coats of arms—those of Cornwallis and other families—with an inscribed scroll naming G. Sulyard of Haughton Park. The lower stage to the west contains a large three-light window with daggers in rectilinear tracery and stone voussoirs. String courses run between the upper stages. Three-stage diagonal buttresses rise through two stages. The second stage to the south has a louvred lancet, whilst a semi-octagonal stair turret rises through two stages to the north. The belfry features three-light louvred openings with cusped ogee tracery, a string course beneath a crenellated parapet (with blind panels to the centre on each side), and crocketed pinnacles at the corners.

Interior

The chancel arch comprises two chamfered orders with semi-octagonal responds bearing restored stiff-leaf capitals. A tall tower arch dies into responds. The four-bay nave arcades have octagonal piers with moulded capitals and double-chamfered pointed arches. Mask corbels in the nave support short octagonal posts to the nave roof, with arms in coving to brattished wallplates. A single moulded tie beam runs to the central truss, whilst other trusses feature restored hammer beams with restored arched braces to collars and no purlins. The aisle roofs are lean-to in form. The chancel roof features 19th-century arch-braced collars.

All chancel windows retain 13th-century rear arches with shafted jambs, ring capitals (some bearing braided ornament), and heavily roll-moulded three-centred arches. To the south, a roll-moulded string course rises from a window base over the doorway. The chancel north wall contains a pointed-arched doorway to the vestry. Some 15th-century moulded rear arches survive in the aisles. The north aisle features a niche for a statue with a cusped and crocketed ogee head, whilst the south aisle contains a cusped pointed-arched piscina. The nave to the north-east retains a lower rood stair doorway. The tower has a lower doorway to the stair turret and an upper 18th-century doorway (for a former gallery) with a key and impost, blocked by a round arch.

A fine 15th-century chancel screen features a dado of six cusped panels with carved masks and four ogee-headed traceried openings above, with shafts that formerly held coving for the rood loft. Attached choir stalls of 15th and late 16th-century date feature panelled and traceried frontals with figural finials to the north and poppyhead ends. The seat back to the north displays similar tracery, with Renaissance detail in the frieze above and in the central panel, flanked by bulbous fluted Ionic pilasters. A 17th-century communion table and chest stand in the chancel. Poppyhead bench ends in the nave include four bearing figures of Saints. A 15th-century font, restored by O.P. Oakes in 1846, sits on its base with an octagonal bowl decorated with Evangelist symbols alternating with Tudor roses and angels on the underside to the stem with four lions. The original timber font cover, topped by a crocketed finial, remains.

Arms of Queen Victoria are displayed over the chancel arch. Hatchments appear on the chancel north wall. Floor brasses have been removed except for an inscription to P. Cuppledicke (d.1619) with arms; a brass inscription to E. Cornwalles (d.1537) has been reset on the wall. Simple early 19th-century tablets line the chancel wall. Externally, a marble tablet to J. Rix (d.1706) and his wife, bearing arms, is attached to the chancel north wall.

Fragments of early stained glass with two canopies survive in a north aisle window, whilst a late 19th-century east window is the work of Waites.