Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Lidgate

This is a substantial medieval parish church with significant surviving fabric from the 13th to 15th centuries, alongside later alterations and restorations. The church originally stood within the outer bailey of Lidgate Castle, which was apparently raised during the civil war of 1138-53, though the site may have been earlier fortified. The castle fell largely into disuse by the later 13th century, and the extensive rebuilding of the church in the late 13th and 14th centuries may mark the end of the castle's dominance.

The earliest visible fabric is the long chancel, dating from the 13th century, though the church was probably built in the 12th century and the nave retains Norman proportions. The tower was added in the late 13th or early 14th century, possibly in several phases, and the aisles were added in the 14th century. Further work followed in the late 15th century, when the nave roof was renewed, the chancel and north aisle screens were installed, and some windows were modified. The south porch is a later post-medieval addition. The entire church underwent 19th-century restoration and was refurnished in the 1930s.

The building is constructed mainly of flint rubble with stone dressings, partly rendered. The south porch is of brick, as are some elements at the east end of the north aisle. The roofs are of red tile to the nave, chancel and south porch, with lead roofs to the aisles. The interior is plastered and painted.

The exterior presents a long, low church with a proportionately tall three-stage west tower. The tower, dating to the late 13th or 14th century, has diagonal buttresses and a plain parapet. It features a two-light Decorated west window, simpler two-light 14th-century windows in the bell stage, and small openings in the middle stage. There is no clerestory.

Both north and south aisles have three two-light Decorated windows with offset buttresses. Neither aisle has west windows, and the north aisle lacks an east window, but the south aisle has a three-light 15th-century east window. The north door has two continuous chamfers and a hood mould. The post-medieval south porch is of rendered brick with unglazed north and south openings. The south door is square-headed with continuous mouldings, set within a pointed arch with a rendered tympanum also featuring continuous mouldings; it may be 12th century in origin with 15th-century or later mouldings.

The chancel south wall has two two-light Decorated windows similar to those in the aisles, and a single 13th-century lancet. The north wall has three 13th-century lancets. The three-light east window has Flamboyant tracery.

Interior

The chancel arch is 13th century, with responds featuring engaged shafts and bell capitals. The chancel roof is rustic and plain, probably largely 19th century, with tie beams and diagonal struts to the principal rafters, a high collar and clasped purlins. A 13th-century piscina with a pointed trefoil head on shafts stands in the chancel. There is no tower arch, but a richly moulded late 13th or early 14th-century doorway with a medieval door provides access into the tower. The nave roof is of simple but attractive tie beam and queen post design, with tracery infill between the queen posts and principal rafters, above the collars and in the spandrels of the arched braces to the collars. Some timber may be late medieval, but the roof was much renewed in the 19th century. Diagonal boarding runs behind the rafters. The four-bay north and south arcades have octagonal piers with moulded capitals and two-order chamfered arches. The aisle roofs are plain with diagonal boarding behind the rafters. The east ends of both aisles are enclosed with screens: those on the north date to the late 15th century, whilst those on the south are early 20th century. A rood stair survives in the northeast corner of the south aisle.

Principal Fixtures

The chancel piscina is mid-13th century with a trefoiled arch on shafts with oversized moulded capitals. Adjacent to it is a small recess with an ogee head and hollow chamfered moulding. A double aumbry appears in the north wall. The chancel altar is early 20th century with riddel posts bearing angels; the communion rails are contemporary. An octagonal medieval font has a probable 17th-century cover.

A parclose screen in the north aisle dates to the late 15th or early 16th century with pretty tracery and depressed ogee-headed arches. The cresting has embattled openwork. The chancel screen is similar but less delicate and lacks cresting. An early 20th-century screen at the east end of the south aisle features four-centred ogee-headed arches and a Tudor arched door, with brattished cresting above a floral cornice.

A good set of probably 16th-century nave benches survives with square ends, moulded tops, sole plates, original fixings and book rests. The north aisle contains another set of 16th-century benches with square ends and linenfold panelling. A 17th-century pulpit features a tall, polygonal panelled drum on a larger square, panelled timber base with finials on the corner posts. Probably 17th-century nave chandeliers are present. Some late 19th and early 20th-century glass is installed, including the south chancel lancet by Clayton and Bells of the 1870s.

A late 14th-century brass commemorates Thomas atte Welle, rector, sometimes incorrectly identified as the poet monk John Lidgate (born in Lidgate 1375, died 1451). A ledger slab to John Isaacson, an early 19th-century rector, is signed by Parkinson of Newmarket.

Much medieval and later graffiti survives, including three late 14th-century fragments of music, a head of the Virgin Mary on a south arcade pier, and a windmill.