Old Minister Ruins
OLD MINISTER RUINS
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031964
- Date first listed:
- 01-Sept-1953
- List Entry Name:
- Old Minister Ruins
- Statutory Address:
- OLD MINISTER RUINS
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-10-09
- Reference:
- IOE01/14881/10
- Rights:
- © Mr Simon Marjoram. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031964
- Date first listed:
- 01-Sept-1953
- List Entry Name:
- Old Minister Ruins
- Statutory Address 1:
- OLD MINISTER RUINS
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- OLD MINISTER RUINS
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Suffolk
- District:
- East Suffolk (District Authority)
- Parish:
- St. Cross, South Elmham
- National Grid Reference:
- TM3073282657
Details
TM 38 SW
4/45
1.9.53
SOUTH ELMHAM ST. CROSS
Old Minister Ruins
II
Ruins. Traditionally thought to be those of a Minster relating to the See of
Elmham created in the C7, although the surviving structure seems likely to
date only from the C11. In flint rubble, coursed where the outer: surfaces
remain. The building had the form of a small Romanesque church, with nave, a
narthex to the west, and an apsidal east end, although nothing remains of the
latter above ground level. The nave, 38 feet long and 27 feet wide, has walls
still partly standing to a height of 14 feet, with evidence for window
openings. The narthex is 26 feet square, and had windows on each side and a
wide west door. The building is surrounded by a large square enclosure with a
bank and ditch, said to be of Roman origin, though this is unproven. For the
most recent account of the site cf. N. Smedley and E. Owles, Excavations at
the Old Minster, South Elmham, Procs. Suff. Inst. Arch. for 1971 Vol. XXXII,
part I pp.1-16. Further excavations in 1985, undertaken by the Suffolk
Archaeological Unit in conjunction with Sheffield University, failed to
produce any further evidence of the origins of the building. Scheduled
Ancient Monument.
Listing NGR: TM3073282657
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 282305
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Vol. 32, (1971), 1-16
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 29-Jun-2026 at 16:31:44.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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