St Mary's Church, Thornham Parva
St Mary's Church is a medieval church in Thornham Parva, Suffolk, England. Much of the fabric dates from the 12th century,and it is a Grade I listed building.[1]
A church on the site was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and there are still traces of Anglo-Saxon stonework in the present building. Originally the church served not only Thornham Parva but the neighbouring village of Thornham Magna as well.
Inside the thatched building are early-14th-century wall paintings—on the south wall the early years of Christ and on the north wall the martyrdom of St Edmund.[2] The church also houses a famous altarpiece, the Thornham Parva Retable, which is thought to have been created in the 1330s for a Dominican priory.[3][4]
Architect Basil Spence died in 1976 at his home at Yaxley, Suffolk, and was buried at Thornham Parva.[5]
References
- ^ Historic England, "Church of St Mary, Thornham Parva (1285113)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 2017-11-04
- ^ "Suffolk Churches". suffolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- ^ "Altarpiece restored". Yorkshire Post.
- ^ "The Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge has restored a 15-ft long medieval altarpiece", History Today, 2003.
- ^ "SPENCE, Sir Basil (1907-1976)". English Heritage. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
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