Description

SOUTHWOLD

TM5076 CHURCH GREEN
588-1/7/11 Church of St Edmund
21/04/49
(Formerly Listed as:
CHURCH GREEN
Church of St Edmund including Chapel
of St Edmund)

GV I

Church. c1430-70. Roofs restored 1857 by EL Blackburne and
1866-7 by RM Phipson; chancel restored 1885. Parclose screens,
1885, by AE Street. Statue of St Edmund, 1989, by Andrew
Swinley. Flint with ashlar dressings. Copper roofs.
EXTERIOR. west tower; nave and chancel continuous, with
clerestory to both and lantern fleche to nave; east end aisle
chapels; south porch.
4-stage tower supported by flushwork diagonal buttresses and
with parapet of quatrefoil flushwork detail. Arcaded flushwork
base panelling. Arched west door with frieze of 4 arched and
cusped flushwork panels right and left, and a frieze of
shields above. 3-light Perpendicular west window flanked by
one statuary niche either side, under canopies and set within
flushwork panelling. Arch of window with flushwork lettering:
SCT EDMUND ORA P NOBIS. Broad frieze of chequer flushwork
above. Ringing chamber with one 2-light Perpendicular window
to each face except east. Twin 2-light Perpendicular belfry
openings.
2-storey south porch with polygonal stair turret to
north-west. East and west walls with chequer flushwork, each
pierced by one 2-light Perpendicular window under a 4-centred
hoodmould. Diagonal south buttresses with flushwork. Moulded
entrance arch with shields and leaf trail carving in
spandrels, and a border of flushwork arcading in 3 tiers.
Geometric flushwork frieze above. First floor lit through two
2-light Perpendicular windows set within flushwork arcading
and separated by canopied niche containing statue of St
Edmund. Panelled and traceried crenellated parapet, the design
in flushwork to east and west faces.
Porch interior has tierceron vault with restored foliate
bosses. South door is arched, with 6 lower panels of each of
the 2 leafs carved with parchment relief; 4 upper panels with
parchment and heraldic relief carving.
Aisles with 3-light west windows, 4-light east windows and six
3-light flanking windows, all Perp. Between windows are
flushwork stepped buttresses. Arched north door and polygonal
stair turret at west end of north aisle. Plain parapet to
north aisle; south aisle parapet is crenellated over a corbel
course of angel and grotesque heads. 18-bay clerestory
articulated by shallow polygonal buttresses rising into square
finial bases, each bay having 2-light window. East end
buttressed diagonally: chancel has one 3-light window to north
and south. 1867 east window of 4 lights above arcade of ogee
headed panels in flushwork.
INTERIOR: tall tower arch with multiple bowtell and casement
mouldings. 7-bay nave arcade, the piers of quatrefoil section
with hollows between, standing on high polygonal bases and
with polygonal capitals.
Roofs: continuous to nave and chancel, of alternating false
hammerbeams with carved arched braces dropping to moulded wall
posts on corbelheads. Arched braces rise from carved angel
figures on the hammerbeams to moulded principals intersected
by 2 tiers of moulded butt purlins and on to a moulded ridge
piece; brattished collars. Chancel roof is panelled and
painted, with fleuron bosses at intersections: west bay
painted with angels carrying scrolls. Aisle roofs have
principals carried on moulded arched braces, one tier of
moulded butt purlins, and figurative and foliate bosses at
intersections.
Chancel screen, c1480, tripartite, serving aisles and central
vessel, each of 3 major bays either side of arched opening:
dado panels split into 2 per bay, with painted figures,
restored 1930. North screen with Nine Orders of Angels; centre
with Apostles, restored 1874; south with Old Testament
Prophets. Painted muntins rise to arches with miniature
cusping and sub-cusping. Rood beam with arcade of pierced
arches.
Chancel: stalls C15 with traceried front panels, misericords
and animal and figurative arm rests. Benches C16. Bench
sedilia to south wall has dado of shields in panels and lierne
vaulting to canopies. Similar piscina, with a route tournant
in dado and cruet shelves against back wall. Organ 1887.
Nave: C15 octagonal font on C20 stepped plinth: font stem with
niches under pairs of miniature carved ogee arches with
crockets and finials. Bowl panels have wide niches under
4-centred canopies with carved lierne vaults. Tall openwork
font canopy of 1935 by FE Howard.
Early C16 octagonal pulpit on a tapering stem, the panels with
profuse Perpendicular tracery. At angles are stepped
buttresses imitating flushwork. Restored 1928 and painted.
On north wall, painted hatchment of arms of George III.
On north tower arch, Clock Jack, C15, in form of painted
armoured figure with axe and sword.
South Chapel: brass to John Bishop, d.1456, and wife, d.1473.
(Bottomley A: The Church of St Edmund, Southwold: Southwold:
1991-; Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Radcliffe E:
Buildings of England: Suffolk, 2nd Edition: Harmondsworth:
1974-: 431-432).

Listing NGR: TM5075076388

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Edmund's Church, Southwold at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15979341

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

• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living