Church Of St Mary

ELLINGHAM GELDESTON ROAD TM 39 SE 7/43 Church of St. Mary 5-9-60 I

Parish church. Medieval with some C19 rebuilding. Flint with limestone dressings, walls of north side largely rendered over. Nave and chancel plain- tiled; lead roofs over aisle and porch. West tower, nave, chancel south aisle, south porch. Square, unbuttressed west tower, C14, with 2-light Y- tracery bell openings. Tracery repaired and replaced in wood on north and south sides. Square red brick staged stair turret on south side, probably C18. 2-light C14 west window with headstops to hoodmould. Tall, narrow opening above with one-piece jambs. Round opening in north side of tower infilled with pierced wooden panel. Stepped parapet with flushwork panels and diagonally-set corner pinnacles with tops missing. C15 south porch with shields in arch spandrels; niche above. Staged diagonal buttresses to gable. 2-light east and west windows with cusped Y-tracery. Stoup to east of archway. South aisle has four 3-light C15 windows with segmental arched heads and hoodmoulds on headstops. Staged buttresses divide bays. Staged diagonal buttresses at south-east and south-west corners. At west end of nave, a red brick chimney with octagonal gault brick shaft and moulded cap. Square-headed priest's door with red brick jambs. Renewed 3-light Perpendicular east window to aisle. 2-light cusped Y-tracery window in south wall of chancel. South- east corner of chancel and east wall rebuilt in red brick; C19 3-light east window. North wall of chancel has a 2-light Y-tracery window and a 3-light C15 window with tracery infilled in rendered brick. North side of nave has tall, narrow 2-light windows, early Perpendicular, the easternmost windows wider and renewed. C14 north doorway with hoodmould on headstops. Interior: nave and chancel ceilings plastered over; nave has moulded wooden cornice. North wall of nave has two bays of blank arcading, now cut by the two centre windows; between the arches a C13 shaft with a bishop's head and staff. South arcade of four bays with hollow-chamfered arches and octagonal piers, C19 responds. The two western bays have a continuous hollow chamfer to arches. Arch-braced aisle roof with roll-moulded purlin and bosses at intersections. Chapel at east end of aisle has an ogee arched niche head re-set across south-east corner. Opening to chapel from chancel has double hollow-chamfered arch on polygonal responds. Low sedilia in arched recess. Piscina in south-east corner with cusped head and broach-stops to jambs. South-east window internally shafted with hoodmould on stiff-leaf stops. Good C16 monument to John Hammond(?) framed by narrow pediment and entablature on Doric colonnettes. Pine box pews. Font C15 octagonal with engaged shafts around stem and alternating shields and roses around bowl.

Listing NGR: TM3663891848