Saint Mary Churchyard in Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk

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Get directions Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk, England

Coordinates: 51.98950, 0.89252
Cemetery ID:

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The earliest part of the church is St Edmund's Chapel, built around 1318, and the south porch, erected around the same time. The porch vaulting is superb, with carved bosses punctuating the vaulting, which supports a parvise, or priest's chamber, over the arch.

If the approach to St Mary's is striking, the medieval doorway is stunning. The surface of the door is carved as a tree of Jesse, a highly imaginary family tree of Christ, with figures representing saints outlined within decorative wooden arches. The edges of the door are carved with amazingly detailed figures of insects, birds, and grotesque figures. At the top is Mary and below her ancestors ranging back to the beginnings of the Old Testament.

The historic highlight inside the church is a brass to Katherine de Moleyns, Duchess of Norfolk and grandmother to two queens; Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn, both married to Henry VIII and both beheaded. Near the priest's door in the chancel is a brass to Sir William Tendring (d. 1408), whose generosity helped pay for the 15th century enlargement of the church.