Description

BRAMFORD CHURCH GREEN
TM 1246
9/70 Church of St. Mary the
Virgin
9.12.55
- I
Parish church, mediaeval. Nave, chancel, north and south aisles, north and
south porches and west tower. Vestry added 1896. Flint rubble walling with
freestone dressings. Leaded roofs; most have freestone parapets and parapet
gables. Some C13 features in south chancel wall: a plain priest's doorway,
and a 2-light window; beneath it a simple arched piscina and triple sedilia
with individual arched heads on slender octagonal columns. The present plan
form of the church was established by mid C14. Tower added c.1370 and much
remodelling in late C15. Mid C14 nave arcades with 4 bays of octagonal piers
with moulded capitals. There remains a little C14 work in both aisles and
porches: moulded south doorway, plain restored south porch with chamfered
doorway and windows and a window in north aisle with intersecting tracery.
Even a north porch window has C14 tracery. Late C14 inner north doorway with
original or early door. The early C14 chancel screen of limestone is
exceptional in Suffolk; it has 3 arches, each with attached shafts (the
cornice and quatrefoils are C19). The large western cower has angle
buttresses, the unusual angel grotesques at the offsets being now badly
weathered. Flushwork panels at the base. Belfry windows and large west
window have curvilinear tracery. Tall tower-arch. 3 finely-carved corbels at
the corners within the cower are intended to support a vault; perhaps it was
never built. The lead-clad spire was rebuilt from the original base framing
in C18. The north porch and aisle are of fine late C15 workmanship, this
being the main approach from the village; good details include traceried
flushwork and image niches in the buttresses, and a blank panelled frieze
along the parapets. The north doorway has a square label on lion corbels and
above it is a niche for the Virgin and Child. Standing on the parapets are a
number of sculptured grotesque figures, including a chained monkey. The south
aisle is similar in date and form, but lacks parapets and all embellishment.
At this time the nave walls were raised for the clerestory, and a fine
hammerbeam roof built; 7 bays of trusses, each with a defaced angel hammer-
beam, arch-braced high collars and kingposts. Between each is a mouldea
cornice. The similar chancel roof is in 4 bays. The aisle roofs have richly
carved bosses, and defaced standing figures support the arch-braced principals
in the south aisle. Restored C16 linenfold panelled pulpit. C15 limestone
font in tower, octagonal, with emblems of evangelists on bowl and traceried
stem; the early C16 oak cover is large and opulent, with a canopied image
stool on each face, carved corner butresses and a crocketed dome with spike
finial. Awall tablet to Elizabeth Dade (d.1648) in south aisle has gilded
enrichment; another early C18 tablet in north aisle. In the nave are 4 C17
marble ledger slabs and one of 1719. In the cower is another, C17. A poor
box on the south arcade is probably a C19 copy of the original; above it is a
fine original inscription:-
"Remember ye pore the Scripture doth record
what to them is geven is lent unto the Lord 1591"

Listing NGR: TM1273146306

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17526273

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)