All Saints Church, Little Wenham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids All Saints Church, Little Wenham |
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All Saints Church, Little Wenham,
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| OS grid reference | TM 081 392 |
| Location | Little Wenham, Suffolk |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 22 February 1955 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Flint and brick Roofs tiled |
All Saints Church is an old Anglican church located in the small village of Little Wenham, Suffolk, England. It's a very important building, listed as Grade I, which means it's protected for its history and beauty. The Churches Conservation Trust looks after it. You'll find this church in a quiet, isolated spot near Little Wenham Hall, a bit away from the village of Capel St. Mary.
Contents
History of All Saints Church
This church is very old, built way back in the 1200s! Later, in the 1400s, people added the tall tower and the porch on the south side. In the 1500s, the tower was made even taller with a special room for bells. Sometimes, this church is also linked to Saint Lawrence.
What Does All Saints Church Look Like?
Outside the Church
All Saints Church is mostly built from flint stones. The very top part of the tower is made of brick. The porch, which is like a covered entrance, is made of wood, and the roofs are covered with tiles.
The church has a main hall called a nave and a special area at the front called a chancel. It also has a porch on the south side and a tall tower at the west end. The tower has three main sections. It has strong supports called buttresses decorated with fancy patterns. On one side of the tower, there's a small staircase built into the wall.
The tower has windows, including a large one at the bottom. The middle part of the tower has small openings with louvers, which are like angled slats. There's also a small niche, a shallow alcove, on the west side. The very top of the tower has a battlemented roof, which looks like the top of a castle wall, and small openings for the bells.
The east wall of the church also has strong buttresses and a decorative top with a cross. The east window has three sections. Along the north wall, you'll see different windows, some with Y-shaped patterns and a tall, narrow lancet window. There's also a doorway on this side. On the south wall, there are more windows and a doorway leading into the chancel. You can even spot some old sundial marks on one of the buttresses!
The porch is made of wood on a brick base. Above the main door of the porch, there are three wooden niches in the pointed part of the roof.
Inside the Church
The floor in the sanctuary (the area around the altar) is made of old medieval tiles and bricks. You can see five old stone slabs on the floor with names and dates from the 1600s and 1700s.
On the east wall, there are old paintings. To the left of the east window, there's a painting of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus. To the right, there are three female saints under decorative canopies: Saint Martha, Saint Catherine, and Saint Mary Magdalene.
In the north wall of the chancel, there's a special structure decorated with shields. It might be a tomb or an Easter sepulchre, which was used during Easter celebrations. In the south wall, there's a very fancy memorial for Sir John Brewse, who passed away in 1585. This memorial is brightly painted and shows a kneeling statue of Sir John inside a rounded arch. It has fancy columns and a decorative top with a coat of arms.
On the floor of the chancel, there's a brass plaque from the medieval times. It remembers Thomas Brewse, who died in 1514, and his wife. They are shown standing together, and below them are their five children. This brass is considered one of the best in the county from before the Reformation.
Between the chancel and the nave, there's a stone base that used to hold a rood screen, which was a decorative partition. In the nave, on the north wall, there's a doorway that once led to stairs for the old rood loft (a gallery above the screen). Near the north wall, you can also see an old medieval coffin lid.
To the east of the north door, there's a wall painting of Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child. To the west of the door, there's a board with the Lord's Prayer written on it. In the south wall of the nave, there's a large tomb with a fancy canopy. People believe it's for Gilbert de Debenham, who died in 1371.
The wooden pulpit, where sermons are given, has six sides and dates from the 1600s or 1700s. Some of the wooden benches, called pews, have special carved patterns. The font, used for baptisms, is from the 1300s and has eight sides. You can still see traces of red paint on it! Above the arch leading to the tower, there's a round opening. Inside the tower, there's a wooden altar. The church bell was made in 1714.
Outside the Church Grounds
In the churchyard, there's a table tomb with cast iron railings. It has the dates 1797 and 1799 on it. This tomb is also a protected building, listed as Grade II.
See Also
