Church Of St Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church located in Little Stonham, dating back to the medieval period with significant remodelling in the early 16th century. The church comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, south chapel, and south porch. It is primarily constructed of plastered rubble with freestone dressings. The building features crowstepped parapet gables, while the nave has embattled parapets. The roofs of the porch and chancel are covered with plain tiles, whereas the nave roof is sheathed in corrugated iron.

The early 16th-century tower is made of unplastered flint rubble and includes a polygonal stair turret. The main parapets are adorned with fine flushwork tracery on the merlons and in a frieze below. The west doors are traceried and feature the arms of the Crane family of Waltham Hall at the top. The east window, restored in the 19th century, is designed in the 14th-century style with net tracery, while the other windows, dating from the early 16th century, have segmental-pointed and traceried heads, including those in the prominent clerestory.

Inside, the church boasts a remarkable six-bay double hammerbeam roof with high collars and short kingposts. The wall-posts display defaced seated and canopied figures, with moulded principal members and leaf-carved braces throughout. The eastern truss has been altered and features rich early 17th-century carvings, possibly linked to a now-missing pulpit on the south side. The chancel has a 19th-century arch-braced collar-beam roof decorated with angels. There is a simple piscina from the 15th or 16th century.

The early 16th-century south porch retains a fine original ceiling, with leaf-carved arch-braces on the principals and an original door at the inner doorway. A notable 15th-century limestone font is present, featuring carved emblems on each face supported by angels and lions against the stem. An early 18th-century gallery is located at the west end, featuring large fielded panels, and bears the inscription "J.G. 1703" on the chapel wall. Additionally, a wall tablet incorporates a brass inscription dedicated to Gilbert Mouse, who died in 1622, and there is a painted panel displaying the arms of Queen Anne.