St Mary's Church is a medieval church in

Thornham Parva Thornham Parva is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the north of sister village Thornham Magna and around five miles south of Diss, in 2005 its population was 50. By the time of the 2 ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. Much of the fabric dates from the 12th century, and it is a

Grade I listed 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 ...

building. Originally the church served not only Thornham Parva but the neighbouring village of

Thornham Magna Thornham Magna is the larger sister village of Thornham Parva on the former estate of Thornham Hall, the Henniker family seat, in Suffolk. It is about from Eye and close to the A140 road from Norwich to Ipswich. The two villages, both mention ...

, which is now a separate

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. A church on the site was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, and there are still traces of Anglo-Saxon stonework in the present building. The roof is thatched. Inside the building are early-14th-century wall paintings—on the south wall the early years of Christ and on the north wall the martyrdom of

St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to: * Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings * Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...

. The church also houses a famous

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, the

Thornham Parva Retable The Thornham Parva Retable is a medieval altarpiece, now in Thornham Parva, Suffolk, England. The retable is thought to have been created in the 1330s for a Dominican Priory. At long, it is the largest surviving altarpiece from the English Middl ...

, which is thought to have been created in the 1330s for a Dominican

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

,"The Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge has restored a 15-ft long medieval altarpiece", ''

History Today ''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...

'', 2003. probably

Blackfriars, Thetford Blackfriars, Thetford was a friary in Norfolk, England, which belonged to the Dominican Order. It was one of several religious houses in Thetford closed at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site is now occupied by Thetford Gramm ...

. The architect Basil Spence died in 1976 at his home at Yaxley, Suffolk, and was buried at Thornham Parva. The graves of Dame Anne Warburton, the first female British ambassador, and the violinist,

Frederick Grinke Frederick Grinke CBE (8 August 1911 – 16 March 1987) was a Canadian-born violinist who had an international career as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He was known especially for his performances of 20th-century English music. Training ...

, also lie within the churchyard.

References

External links

*
Thornham Parva, St Mary
"A church near you" website {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornham Church of England church buildings in Suffolk English churches with Norman architecture Grade I listed churches in Suffolk Thatched buildings in Suffolk