Church of St Catherine is a Grade I listed building in the Mid Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 December 1955. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Catherine
- WRENN ID
- young-wattle-pearl
- 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
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Catherine, Stowmarket Road, Ringshall
- OS grid reference
- TM 042 528
- Coordinates
- 52.13658, 0.98373
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St. Catherine is a parish church that dates back to the medieval period, with significant remodelling in the early 16th century. It consists of a nave, chancel, and a west tower, with a south porch added in the late 19th century. The church is constructed from random flint rubble, with the chancel featuring extensive rebuilding in red brick and mixed rubble from the early 16th century, some of which is still plastered. The roofs are covered with plain tiles, and the east wall has a parapet gable that dates to around 1300. The church displays prominent buttressing from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The lower section of the tower originates from the 12th century, retaining two low windows and the base of the tower arch. The tower was remodelled in the early 14th century, which included the tower arch, Y-traceried west windows, and small upper-level windows. The parapet, made of gault brick, was rebuilt in the 19th century. The nave walls, dating from the 11th or 12th century, have two original blocked windows with wide splays on the north side and another with an inserted 13th-century lancet on the south. The inner arch and jambs of the south doorway are also from the 12th century, but the arch is from the 14th century, and the door is a 16th-century plank door.
Various additions from the early 14th century include the north doorway, the south chancel doorway, an east window with dagger tracery, and a piscina beside it. The windows are primarily from the early 16th century. The nave roof was renewed in the early 16th century due to the spreading of the 12th-century walls, which led to the insertion of two tiebeams with oak needles below the eaves level. These tiebeams are arch-braced and feature moulded wallpieces, with long octagonal crownposts supported by thin two-way braces. The chancel roof, also from the early 16th century, has arch-braced collars supported by hammerbeams, with enriched beams, cornices, and braces. One wallpiece bears a shield with the initials RB, for Richard Borsall.
The church contains a 13th-century font with an octagonal bowl that is splayed and arcaded, resting on a circular stem; the eight outer shafts were renewed in the 19th century. A wall painting is located on the south wall, and the tower houses three marble floor slabs from the 18th century.
Local climate
Church of St Catherine sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 90% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 75% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 28 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
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