Rackheath: All Saints
Overview
Grid reference: TG 270 149
The walls are faced with flint, with stone and brick dressings. The roofs are slated, save the tower, which has a flat lead roof.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, three-bay nave with south aisle and porch, chancel with south vestry.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church dates from c.1300. There was a thorough restoration in the 1840's.
Exterior Description
The walls are faced with flint, with stone and brick dressings. The roofs are slated, save the tower, which has a flat lead roof.
The tower The ground is of three stages, entirely unbuttressed. floor and silence chamber are undivided externally, the former having a wide single light in the west wall while the silence chamber has no source of light at all, although there are signs of blocked sound-holes in three faces. The parapet is continuous, without battlements. The tower, although of common East Anglian type, is thus rendered a severe as possible by the lack of any decorative feature save the cusping of the bell-openings.
The west wall of the south aisle is windowless and so are the side walls of the porch. The latter shows considerable signs of nineteenth century restoration. The roof of the aisle oversails the wall-head, and is set over a wide wooden cornice or wall-plate. It dates from a nineteenth century restoration when the pitch was heightened so that lead might be replaced by slates.
In the angle of the aisle with the chancel is a small eighteenth-century brick vestry.
The south wall of the chancel has a round-headed window with Y tracery, indicating an earlier date than any other part of the building. The east window is entirely nineteenth-century, of three lights with cusped tracery. In the north wall the only feature is a single window like that in the south wall.
The nave is in alignment with the chancel on the north side, there being no aisle, and the change is marked by an alteration of roof level and a tall thin arch beside an eighteenth century brick buttress.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
The stained glass is all nineteenth-century. Most of it was given by Sir Henry Josias Stracey, Bart ., in 1857.
Interior
Interior Description
The nave is separated from the aisle by a three-bay arcade with octagonal piers and moulded capitals. The arches have double hollow chamfers. The clerostory windows above are very small and, because they are cut in two half by the aisle roof, let in very little light. Since apart from them the only window in the nave it in the north wall and, like two of those in the south aisle, has stained glass in it, the nave is quite dark.
The tower arch is very tall and narrow, the arch itself having broad chamfered mouldings which die into the walls at each side.
The chancel arch is as wide as the chancel itself, and is carried on attached shafts of the same design as the piers of the south arcade. The arch itself is plainly chamfered. Behind the pulpit are the lower steps of the former rood stair.
The chancel has, like the nave, a cambered plaster ceiling which covers any details of the roof structure.
Fixtures and fittings
Font (object)
c. 1639
The font is octagonal with cherubs' heads on alternate faces and a shield of arms on the front.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TG 270 149
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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