St Mary's Church, Stoke-by-Nayland

St Mary's Church, Stoke-by-Nayland
St Mary's Church, Stoke-by-Nayland
	St Mary's Church, Stoke-by-Nayland
	51°59′22.01″N 0°53′28.77″E / 51.9894472°N 0.8913250°E
OS grid reference	TL 98628 36281
Location	Stoke-by-Nayland
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	St Mary
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed
Specifications
Length	168 feet (51 m)
Height	126 feet (38 m)
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Archdeaconry	Ipswich
Deanery	Hadleigh
Parish	Stoke-by-Nayland

St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England^[1] in Stoke-by-Nayland.

History

The earliest parts of the church date from the late 13th century or early 14th century and comprise the south porch, St Edmund's Chapel (ca. 1318) and some of the aisle wall. The remainder was rebuilt in the 15th century.

The church is noted for the south porch with its groin vaulted roof, restored carved bosses . and priests chamber above. The South door is a Jesse tree, carved with figures, birds and insects.

The tower is 126 feet (38 metres) high to the top of the pinnacles.^[2]

Memorials

There is a brass in memory of Lady Catherine Howard of Tendring Hall, daughter of Sir William Molyns and wife of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England. The Howards were the third most powerful family in England at the time of the Wars of the Roses. An explanatory board in the church says that her funeral in Stoke-by-Nayland in 1465 was attended by the brothers of Edward IV: Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III of England, and George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence as well as Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers. Howard was the great-grandmother of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of Henry VIII. Howard's brass was paid for by her son Thomas in 1520 which is why she wears Tudor dress rather than the fashion of her time.

The church has a number of other 15th century brasses and a wall monument to Sir Francis Mannock, 1st Baronet, of Giffords Hall (d 1634). See the Mannock baronets.

Parish status

The church is in a group of parishes which includes:

St Matthew's Church, Leavenheath
St Mary's Church, Polstead

Organ

The church has a two manual pipe organ the origins of which are from an organ of around 1834 by Gray. There has been subsequent renovations and alterations by Gray and Davison, Henry Jones, Rayson and Bishop and Son. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.^[3]

Bells

The tower contains 8 bells with a tenor weight of 22cwt in D. Details on the bells as follows:

Bell	Weight	Nominal	Note	Diameter	Dated	Founder	Canons	Turning
1	5-1-2	1177.4	D	29.00"	1956	John Taylor & Co	F	N
2	5-1-21	1112.6	C#	29.88"	1956	John Taylor & Co	F	N
3	6-1-15	985.2	B	32.13"	1956	John Taylor & Co	F	N
4	7-0-23	875.6	A	35.00"	1725	Thomas Gardiner	Y	Y
5	9-3-18	778.8	G	38.38"	c1499†	? John Sturdy	Y	Y
6	14-0-0	739.0	F#	42.38"	c1380†	(unidentified)	R	Y
7	15-1-24	653.8	E	45.75"	1699	Henry Pleasant	Y	Y
8	22-0-12	582.2	D	52.00"	1811	Thomas II Mears	R	Y

References

^ The Buildings of England: Suffolk: Nikolaus Pevsner.
^ Flannery, Julian (2016). Fifty English Steeples: The Finest Medieval Parish Church Towers and Spires in England. New York City, New York, United States: Thames and Hudson. pp. 294–301. ISBN 978-0-500-34314-2.
^ "The National Pipe Organ Register - NPOR".