Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Little Wratting

A small church with origins in the 11th century. The nave and western part of the chancel date to the 11th century, with the chancel extended eastward in the 14th century. The rood stair turret and bellcot frame were added in the 15th century. An early 16th-century north chapel was demolished in 1710, when the north wall of the chancel was rebuilt. The chancel arch and part of the chancel were again rebuilt in 1895, at which time the bellcot was rebuilt and the south porch was added or rebuilt.

The building is constructed of rubble, including pebbles, with some herringbone masonry in the nave and part of the chancel. The plan comprises a nave, chancel, and south porch, with a small bellcot set within the west end of the nave.

Externally, the church is very small. A timber openwork bellcot with a small shingled spire sits over the west end of the nave. The south side of the nave features a 15th-century window to the east of the porch. A 19th-century stone south porch has barge boards on the gable. The south door is plain and rectangular externally, with 12th-century hinges featuring large C-shaped terminals ending in stylised beast heads. The lintel bears a partial carved inscription. The north wall of the nave has a blocked plain rectangular doorway and a 15th-century window similar to that on the south; both sides show herringbone masonry. The rood stair turret has a small blocked light. The chancel has 15th-century windows in the north and south walls, and a large 14th-century east window with flowing tracery.

Internally, the soffit of the south nave door is tall and round-headed, suggesting an 11th-century date with the straight lintel inserted in the 12th century. The blocked north door remains similar. The chancel arch, rebuilt in 1895, is in a plain early Norman style using brick and stone. A shallow sink built into the north jamb of the chancel arch was found in the churchyard and may have formed part of a reliquary or piscina. Carved corbels on either side of the chancel arch probably relate to the former 15th-century screen, which must have been very low. A single early 16th-century jamb from the arch to the former south chapel survives in the south chancel wall. The bellcot is supported on an arch-braced 15th-century frame resting on large floor plates at the west end of the nave—an unusual arrangement for Suffolk, though more common in Essex.

The church contains a plain 14th-century octagonal font with a 19th-century cover, and a 14th-century chancel piscina with a heavily moulded ogee arch, headstops, crockets and a finial. A good set of 15th-century benches feature blind tracery panelling and small buttresses on the ends and backs. One large 18th-century box pew remains. Medieval glass fragments appear in the heads of the nave north and west windows, some in situ, alongside a good 19th-century window in the nave south. A fragment of a 17th-century tomb from the now-demolished north chapel—a kneeling woman with a ruff—survives loose in the church and may have belonged to the Turnour family. A late 19th- or early 20th-century chancel screen in late Perpendicular style and 19th-century chancel stalls with poppyheads complete the furnishings.

Little Wratting church is mentioned in Domesday Book, and the present church existed by that date. The churchyard has two distinct levels separated by a curving bank, suggesting an Anglo-Saxon circular churchyard. The nave doors may have been remodelled with straight lintels in the 12th century, and the chancel was extended eastward in the 14th century. The nave was remodelled in the 15th century with a new rood screen, loft and probably altars on either side lit by the 15th-century nave windows. The bellcot was also added in the 15th century. A large north chapel was added in the early 16th century for the Turnour family but was demolished in 1710. The whole church was restored in 1895, when the chancel arch was rebuilt.