Syleham Church is one of the typical
round tower churches of the area but is unusual both in shape and
in its delightful setting. 
A key is available from Mr Leader at Monks Hall, the ancient pink
house some 200 yards to the west (01379 668205).
LOCATION
The church is situated on the bank
of the River Waveney, a location which may have been chosen to
facilitate baptism, and is at the end of a causeway which snakes
through woodland and once continued over the river. A wooden cross,
donated to commemmorate the Millennium, marks the entrance and
snowdrops and daffodils adorn the lane in Spring.
An isolated sand lens, the site is
unique in the Waveney Valley and has been designated a County
Wildlife Site by Suffolk County Council. The churchyard is managed
for wild flowers by volunteers.
DEDICATION
Originally dedicated to St Margaret
of Scotland, a deeply religious woman and great-grandmother of
Henry II who briefly visited Syleham in 1174, the church was
re-dedicated to St Mary and has been officially St Mary’s for many
years. However, local people have always called
it St Margaret’s and the Diocesan Bishop has now
confirmed this dedication.
THE CHURCH AND ITS
PRIESTS
Until the Reformation, Syleham’s
priests were appointed from Wingfield College and then by the
Bishops of East Anglia. During the Commonwealth, Congregationalist
Samuel Habergham was an influential Minister here and is buried in
the chancel.
Syleham is now in the Diocese of St
Edmundsbury & Ipswich, and St Margaret’s is one of six churches
in the care of Revd Fiona Newton, of Laxfield, who is encouraging
the church to be a living presence in the village.
PATTERN OF SERVICES
First
Sunday Morning
Prayer at 11am
Third
Sunday Holy
Communion at 10am
Fourth
Sunday Village Service at 10am,
coffee
afterwards
Every Tuesday Noon prayers
When there is a fifth Sunday in any month, we join with the
Benefice. Details are found on the notice board at the top of the
church lane or can be obtained from the churchwardens Mr John
Leader 01379 668205 or Mrs Marion Minns 01379 669262.
BIBLE
STUDY Fortnightly
Mondays at 3pm - call Mary Lewis 01379 668259 for details
FESTIVALS Harvest
was celebrated with a delightfully decorated church and
the collection of just over £300 was sent to Water
Aid. Our Carol Service included participation by Amici Choir
and was followed by coffee and mince pies. We look forward to
an Easter Morning Prayer at 11am on Sunday 4th April and there will
be a Meditation at 12 noon on Good Friday.
EVENTS
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is
responsible for maintaining the church and has a regular programme
of enjoyable fund-raising events. Contact Mrs Marion Minns 01379
669262 for details unless otherwise stated.
Last year, we had
Ruby & Her Horses, a
coffee morning/plant sale, a summer lunch and fete, both the latter
at Monks Hall by kind invitation of John Leader. In addition,
Ian and Jean Marshall with Peter & Helene Gregson organised a
fun duck race at Syleham Watermill and generously shared the
proceeds between the church's fabric fund and Macmillan
Nurses.
At the fete, in addition to our own fund-raising, we offered free
train rides and other activites for children and took donations,
amounting to £51, for the children's hospice at Quidenham.
St Margaret's received a visit from the Round Tower Churches
Society on 4th July so may well feature in their next
magazine. The church was open every day during Suffolk's Open
Churches Week and, on one afternoon, invited people to tea and to
try out the new bell chimes which were installed earlier in the
year: this featured in both the East Anglian Daily Times and
the Diss Express.
Our Harvest Supper on 31st October was very well supported and
proved to be an enjoyable evening, besides raising a very welcome
£525 for church funds.
Summer Lunch in 2010 will be on Saturday 26th June and the Fete on
Saturday 7th August, both at Monks Hall. Other events are in
the pipeline.
EXTERIOR OF CHURCH
The church is thought to date from
Saxon times: it has fragments of Saxon limestone work at the NW
angle of the nave whilst the lower courses of the tower, of local
flint, are also Saxon. It is thought that the use of flint dictated
the tower’s shape. Opinions vary as to whether the main part of the
tower is Norman or 14th century, with a later top.
Putlog holes, which supported scaffolding, are visible.
The tower contains three bells:
there is a 15th century tenor bell by Braziers of
Norwich with an inscription to Thomas à Becket, a bell by John
Darbie dated 1676 and a 1708 bell by John Goldsmith of Redgrave and
inscribed ‘Margaret’. Recent investment in a simple chiming
mechanism has enabled all three to be rung once again from January
2009. The purchase was funded by donations from
members of the village community and the PCC was very grateful for
the generous response to the appeal.
Marks on the tower indicate that the nave was once thatched. There
is a ground floor lancet window in its west wall and four small
slit windows at belfry level, all thought to be 14th
century. Although the nave and the chancel, both thought to
be 13th century, today present an unusual external
profile, the roofs were once level and were altered probably in
medieval times, though some think Victorian. The chancel roof was
repaired in 2006.
The south porch was built in 1450 by Alice de la Pole, grandaughter
of Geoffrey Chaucer and wife of the Duke of Suffolk, of nearby
Wingfield Castle. The arch bears the arms (west) of the de la Poles
and (east) Chaucer and de Burghersh There is a holy water stoup to
the east of the ancient door, which retains its 13th
century furniture. As a reminder that the interior of the church
was once rich in colour, tiny remnants of paint can be seen in the
crevices of some of the carvings around the door.
Plans are in hand to fit a permanent pair of metal gates to
the porch in memory of the late Lt Col. John Leader.
The church is a member of the Round Tower Churches
Society
INTERIOR
Immediately in view as one enters
the church is the font, thought to be 14th century on an
earlier base – suggested to be a very old font turned upside down.
The wooden cover is dated 1667.
Standing against the north wall is a
13th century chest, banded with iron and with five
locks. There are oil lamps in both the nave and the chancel.
The windows in the nave are
Perpendicular (1350 -1550), whilst the two lancet windows in the
north wall of the chancel are 13th century. The east
window is Victorian, with Decorated tracery. If you look carefully
at the window to the south of the sanctuary, there is a scratched
signature .. an evocative reminder of the
everyday.
The doorway to the turret staircase
which gave access to the rood screen is blocked but can be seen
beside the pulpit, which, like the attractive communion rail and
the former altar table, is 17th century. There is a
simple piscina in the south wall of the sanctuary.
There are a number of memorials in
the chancel, including six slabs and two wall tablets (dating from
1638 to 1825) in memory of members of the Barry family, of Syleham
Hall; brass inscriptions to William Fuller (died 1634) and his
wife; an 18th century inscription to the Lambe sisters;
and a 19th century memorial to Augustus Cooper,
perpetual curate for 44 years.
Memorials in the nave include an
18th century slab to the memory of three brothers who
all died in their late teens; a wall tablet in memory of Alfred
Read of Monks Hall; and recent tablets in memory of
Amoret Leader, wife of Colonel Leader of Monks Hall who himself
died in February 2008, and of Katharine Anne Napier of Syleham
Manor.
There is a framed list of incumbents
from 1315 and a facsimile copy of Syleham’s Domesday Book
entry.