Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Mildenhall

Medieval church of Grade I importance, comprising a nave, chancel, west tower, north and south aisles, north and south porches, and north vestry. The building is constructed of flint rubble with limestone dressings, with some sections built entirely of freestone. The roofs are low-pitched and leaded with parapets and parapet gables, except for the chancel roof which is slated.

The earliest surviving element is the north vestry, dating from the early 13th century. It features a rib-vaulted ceiling, lancet windows in the north wall and a triple lancet in the west wall, with further good features in the south and east walls. The chancel arch is notably fine, heavily moulded with keeled shafts, tooth ornament and stiff-leaf capitals. The chancel itself was extended in the early 14th century, possibly for Richard de Wichford (died 1344), whose tomb slab survives in the floor. The chancel contains 3-light side windows and a fine 7-light east window with outer lights continuing upwards as a frieze of quatrefoils. A double piscina with moulded ogee-arched head and shafts with foliate capitals, triple sedilia and trefoil-headed aumbry are present. The east chancel corner buttresses are linked at their heads to form canopied image niches.

The nave, aisles, porches and tower were all rebuilt in the early to mid 15th century. The nave has a 5-bay arcade with large clerestory windows and a fine roof of arch-braced tie-beams and queen posts, all enriched and infilled with tracery. Intermediate trusses feature hammer beams in the form of angels, which also embellish cornices and tie-beams. The north aisle roof is exceptionally fine, with massive angel hammer beams and richly figure-carved spandrels, cornices and wall posts. The south aisle roof is similar but has traceried spandrels. The north aisle walling displays buttresses with canopied niches, flushwork, and panelled and traceried parapets with pinnacles. The large north porch has a fan-vaulted ceiling with a Lady Chapel above, which opens through two large openings into the aisle. The north porch door is traceried and surrounded by fine panelled tracery. External features are similar to those of the north aisle. The smaller, single-storey south porch follows comparable treatment.

The tower rises approximately 40 metres in height. Set-back buttresses with pinnacles at alternate stages rise from its base. A large west window sits above the west doorway, flanked by niches. Within the tower, a minstrel's gallery is supported on a fine fan-vaulted ceiling, with an inner arch towards the nave and traceried stone balustrading.

The early 15th-century font is an octagonal example in Purbeck marble with panelled decoration. The medieval rood-screen originally had two lofts; only the stairs and three doorways survive. An ornate replacement screen was added in 1903. Several windows in the chancel and vestry contain good fragments of 13th and 14th-century glass.

The church contains numerous monuments and memorials. A cenotaph to Sir Henry Barton, Lord Mayor of London in 1416 and 1428, stands in the south aisle. Also in the south aisle is the alabaster tomb chest of Sir Henry North (died 1620) with effigies of him and his family, alongside wall tablets to Roger North (died 1651) and Thomasina North (died 1661). Beside the chancel arch is a wall tablet to the wife of Sir Henry North (died 1671) with an epitaph by her husband. The chancel contains wall tablets to Sir Henry Warner (died 1617) and Edward Warner, and to Mary Warner (died 1601). A floor slab in the vestry commemorates William Coe, the diarist (died 1729). Two good 18th-century wall tablets are present: in the south aisle to Henry Bunbury (died 1722) and in the chancel to Reverend John Hunt (died 1736). The tower contains a large panel with the Arms of George II, dated 1758. Numerous floor slabs throughout the church survive, with earlier examples retaining indents for lost brasses.