Churches in Bungay Suffolk


		Churches Holy Trinity The round-headed tower of Holy Trinity church is considered to be the oldest building in the town. It's coursed flints, herringbone masonry and circular and round-headed windows suggest the late Saxon period but may only indicate that local builders of the early medieval period were still using archaic building methods. The north wall of the church also features coursed flints and has a "keyhole" window, but the remainder of the building was altered in later centuries and exhibits pointed 'perpendicular' windows of the 14th century. The original chancel at the east end had crumbled into ruins by the 18th century, and the existing chancel was built In I926. The interior contains a fine carved oak pulpit, recorded in the Churchwardens Registers s having been erected in 1588 at a cost of ten shillings; and the altar-rail dates to c. 1660 This is now the parish church of Bungay, St. Mary's in the town centre having been closed for regular services in 1977. To read more from Holy Trinity Church click here St Edmund's A Roman Catholic chapel was built on the site of the present church and opened for worship in June 1823. The present church was completed in 1891. Throughout the church the statuary and carving are remarkably good and the baptistry is beautiful. Although the actual building is modern, the Roman Catholic community, formerly based in Flixton, dates back to the sixteenth century. Since 1657 it has been served by monks of the English Benedictine Congregation. More information can be seen on the website Emmanuel Church A classic Congregational Chapel dating from 1658. In recent centuries independent church communities have exercised a strong influence in the Town. John Childs, a printer whose business was the forerunner of Clays Ltd, and who broke the bible monopoly enabling bibles to be sold at a much cheaper rate, worshipped here. His tombstone near the Chapel records his death in 1853 and there is a beautiful commemorative window in the Lecture Hall at the rear of the Church. More information can be seen on the website St Mary's It is thought that the Church of the Holy Cross, rnentioned in the 11th century Domesday survey was a Saxon church on the some site as the existing St. Mary's. It was appropriated to the revenues of a Benedictine Priory which Gundreda, Countess of Norfolk, and widow of Hugh Bigod, of Bungay Castle, established In the churchyard in the late 12th century. The Priory housed a small community of nuns, and in addition to the chapel connected with the church, the ruins of which survive the site also had n refectory, guesthouse, hospital, and dormitory and other buildings occupying a large area stretching the entire length of St. Mary's Street', The nuns provided care for the sick, education for children of both sexes and, money food and clothing for the poor. Following the Dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, the Priory closed in 1536 but not long afterwards, a Grammar School for boys was established in the churchyard in a disused chapel formerly owned by the nuns. The church of St. Mary's was attached to the Priory, and the main building dates from the 14th - l5th cent, The great tower, rising to approximately 90ft. high was completed by c. 1480. After the demise of the priory it became the parish church. It was severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1688 and the tower and south aisle had to be rebuilt. With dwindling congregations in the late 20th century, it was decided that the smaller church of Holy Trinity should be retained for regular services and St Mary's was declared redundant. It was taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust, which now maintains the fabric, while the friends of St Mary's keep the interior clean and organise regular concerts and other fund raising events. www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk		Holy Trinity St Edmund's Father Edward Crouzet OSB Emmanuel Rev. Bruce Waldron St. Mary's