Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the West Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 December 1961. A C14 to C17 Church.

Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
sharp-pillar-rook
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
West Suffolk
Constituency
West Suffolk MP: Nick Timothy (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
19 December 1961
Type
Church
Period
C14 to C17
Address
Church of St Mary, Cavendish
OS grid reference
TL 805 465
Coordinates
52.08786, 0.63337
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary in Cavendish has origins dating back to the Saxon period, as recorded in the Doomsday Book. It was replaced by a Norman church, which was eventually succeeded by the current structure made of flint and stone, dating from the 14th to the 17th century. The tower, built around 1300, features a castellated parapet, diagonal buttresses, and an octagonal castellated staircase turret. The ground floor is vaulted stone, with a priest's chamber above that includes an original fireplace and window surround.

The nave clerestory, dating from around 1485, also has a castellated parapet and notable stone and flint traceried ornamentation. An inscription below the parapet, now mostly illegible, credits its construction to a member of the Smythe family. The nave contains two Tudor lead rainwater heads decorated with roses and leopard heads. Its roof features an arch-braced tie-beam design with carved spandrels, supported by niched wall posts with figures. The north and south aisles were built in the 15th century, with 17th-century pendants and ornamentation in the north aisle's roof.

The chancel, constructed around 1381, underwent extensive repairs in the 17th century and includes buttresses and a deep plinth with knapped flint chequer work. The roof is tiled. In the south aisle, there is a 14th-century octagonal font with a traceried shaft and Evangelist emblems on the bowl, which were defaced during the Cromwellian period.

Local climate

Church of St Mary sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 74% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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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