All Saints Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of

Little Wenham Little Wenham is a small village in Suffolk, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wenham Parva – the ancient name for Little Wenham) within Babergh district. Its population is included there. Heritage The village is home to Wenham Castl ...

, Suffolk, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. It stands in an isolated position close to Little Wenham Hall, about to the northwest of Capel St. Mary.

History

The church dates from the 13th century. The tower and the south porch were added in the 15th century, and in the following century the tower was raised by the addition of a bell chamber. A dedication to Saint Lawrence has also been associated with the church.

Architecture

Exterior

All Saints is constructed in

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

, with the top stage of the tower in brick. The porch is

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

, and the roofs are tiled. Its plan consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

, with a south porch and a west tower. The tower is in three stages, with angle

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es decorated with

flushwork In architecture, flushwork is decorative masonry work which combines on the same flat plane flint and ashlar stone. If the stone projects from a flat flint wall then the term is proudwork, as the stone stands "proud" rather than being "flush" w ...

. On the east of the south face is an angled stair

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

. In the lowest stage of the tower is a window with three lights. The middle stage contains a small louvred

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

ed opening on the north, west and south sides. Under the opening on the west side is a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

. The top stage is

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

ed and contains small bell openings. The east wall of the church has angle buttresses, and a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

surmounted by a cross finial. The east window has three lights. Towards the east end of the north wall of the church is a two-light window with Y-

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

, and to its west is a lancet window, a three-light window, and a doorway. In the south wall, from the east are a six-light window set higher than the others, a doorway into the chancel, and three windows with Y-tracery. On the middle buttress are three scratch dials and the gnomon of a former sundial. The porch is timber-framed on a brick base. Above the doorway, in the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

, are three wooden niches.

Interior

The chancel is floored with

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

tiles and brick. On the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

floor are five memorial floor slabs inscribed with dates in the 17th and 18th centuries. On the east wall are paintings. To the left of the east window is a painting of the

Virgin with Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...

, and to the right of the window are three female saints under canopies, namely Saints

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

and Mary Magdalene. In the north wall of the chancel is a structure decorated with shields which is either a tomb or an

Easter sepulchre An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of British church interior architecture. Description The Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and s ...

. In the south wall is an elaborate memorial to Sir John Brewse, who died in 1585. The memorial is brightly painted and contains the kneeling effigy of Sir John in a round-arched recess. To the sides of the recess are

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns supporting a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

over which is a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

. There are further coats of arms to the sides of the recess and in panels under the recess. The monument partly obscures the arches of a former

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

. Above the priest's door in the south wall is a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

monument dated 1682. In the floor of the chancel is a medieval

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

to the memory of Thomas Brewse, who died in 1514, and his wife. They are depicted standing side by side, and below them are their five children, two boys and three girls. This is said to be one of the best pre-

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

brasses in the county. Between the chancel and nave is the plastered stone base of the former rood screen. To each side of this, in the west wall, is a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

. In the north wall of the nave is the doorway leading to stairs to the former rood loft. By the north wall of the nave is a medieval coffin lid. To the east of the north door is a wall painting of Saint Christopher and the Christ Child. To the west of the door is a board with the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

. In the south wall of the nave is a tomb chest with a large and elaborate canopy which is said to commemorate Gilbert de Debenham who died in 1371. The wooden hexagonal pulpit dates from the 17th or 18th century. Two of the pews are carved with

linenfold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

panels and

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. The font dates from the 14th century and is carried on an octagonal stem. It still has traces of red paint. Above the tower arch is a round opening. In the tower is a wooden altar. The bell was cast by Thomas Gardiner of Sudbury in 1714.

External features

In the churchyard is a table tomb with

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

railings bearing the dates 1797 and 1799. It is designated as a Grade II listed building.

References