Church of St Mary
Church of St Mary, Rectory Hill
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1193803
- Date first listed:
- 22-Feb-1955
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Mary, Rectory Hill
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-06-20
- Reference:
- IOE01/07537/14
- Rights:
- © Mr Simon Peachey. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1193803
- Date first listed:
- 22-Feb-1955
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address 1:
- Church of St Mary, Rectory Hill
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:
- Church of St Mary, Rectory Hill
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Suffolk
- District:
- Babergh (District Authority)
- Parish:
- East Bergholt
- National Grid Reference:
- TM 07033 34456
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 12 July 2023 to correct a typo in the description and to reformat the text to current standards
TM 0734
6/46
EAST BERGHOLT
RECTORY HILL (North Side)
Church of St Mary
22.2.55
GV
I
Church. Chancel C14 with C15 alterations. North and south chapels mid C15 with later alterations. South aisle later C15, incorporating C14 south door. 1525 datestone on tower. North aisle, clerestory and nave arcades c1530s - 40s. Restoration 1850s - 60s. Further alterations and additions of early C20 by T G Jackson. Perpendicular style. Tower of brick and flint faced with knapped flint. North aisle mainly brick with some septaria and roughly-dressed stone. South aisle brick and snapped flint. Later stucco to aisles, now removed. Ashlar clerestory. South porch and chancel rendered above plinth. Ashlar dressings throughout. Plain tile roofs. West tower with passage through, five-bay aisled nave, south porch with parvise, two-bay chancel with single-bay chapels to north and south.
Tower: incomplete, raised only to single stage. five-sided angle turrets, ashlar plinth with encircled quatrefoils containing shields. Much weathered flushwork above. Wide north and south arches to passage. Two-centred moulded arches on inner responds with continuously moulded jambs under square label containing encircled quatrefoil with shields and mouchettes to spandrels. Date plaque above south arch now illegible. Passageway retains vault shafts. West doors have linenfold panelling and enriched central baluster. West front has C20 paired traceried windows and is surmounted by C18 octagonal bellcote.
South aisle: plinth, flush-work band, flushwork buttresses with niches and truncated pinnacles. Tudor-arched three-light Perpendicular windows. Battlements throughout enriched with carved shields. South porch of two storeys with domed stair turret to west. Flushwork plinth and diagonal buttresses with niches. Pointed arch, the inner order on responds, with continuously moulded jambs enriched with shields. Hoodmould surmounted by square label with encircled quatrefoils and mouchettes in the spandrels. Single-light window to parvise under square label. Parapet.
North aisle: plinth, flushwork offset buttresses with brattishing. Large four-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. Polygonal three-stage stair turret to east surmounted by finial, with the mullet device of the De Veres, Lords of the village manor of Old Hall from 1425.
North door: linenfold panelling with central baluster in continuously moulded surround enriched with niches and shields. Square moulded surround with outer colonettes and decorated spandrels. Clerestory has three-light segmental-pointed windows with Perpendicular tracery. Chancel and Chapels have three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. Diagonal buttresses to chancel and five-light east window. Embattled parapets.
Interior: nave arcade of two-centred arches on piers of section four shafts and four hollows with moulded capitals to shafts. Pointed chancel arch on triple responds. Original roofs to south aisle and chancel. Nave roof of 1854. Angle corbels to south chapel, reroofed 1866. Easter Sepulchre with C15 wall painting. Wall monuments to William Jonar 1636,and to Edward Lambe d.1617 with niche containing kneeling figure flanked by angels and surmounted by entablature with hatchment and obelisks. Early C18 marble chest tombs to Chaplin and Parker families in south chapel. Memorials to Maria Constable, Wife of John Constable, and her grandfather Dr Rhudde.
Pevsner N, Suffolk 2nd Ed 1974 pp 195-196
Paterson T F, East Bergholt in Suffolk, 1923 pp 52-90
Riches A, Victorian Church Building and Restoration in Suffolk 1982 p 366
Elam J F, St Mary's Church East Bergholt 1986
Listing NGR: TM0703334456
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 278754
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Riches, A, Victorian Church Building and Restoration in Suffolk, (1982), 366
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Suffolk, (1961), 195-6
Elam, J F, St Mary's Church East Bergholt, (1986)
Patterson, T F, East Bergholt in Suffolk, (1923), 52-90
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 17-Jun-2026 at 06:38:28.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.