St Mary's Church, Kersey

St Mary’s Church stands on high ground south of Kersey village in Suffolk. Built of flint and stone, its oldest parts date to the twelfth century. The north aisle was added around 1335 and the tower completed in 1481 after delays caused by the Black Death. The tower has four stages with diagonal buttresses and a castellated parapet of flint chequerwork. A small octagonal stair turret rises beside it, while both porches show crocketted pinnacles. The church’s position once made it a landmark for returning RAF bombers. The church was once a major pilgrimage site with a shrine filling the north aisle. Destroyed during the Civil War, the shrine was re-hallowed in March 2020 in a ceremony attended by Leading Aircraftman Dougie Vince. His bomber used the church’s illuminated tower as a navigational point after losing instruments and fuel over Germany. The rear gunner died in the fire, and Vince nearly lost the use of his hand fighting the flames. Today the church hosts arts events including jazz evenings and classical concerts. Inside, the nave roof has hammer beams and carved panels, while two fonts survive from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. A small section of medieval rood screen depicts saints and kings, including Edmund the Martyr holding an arrow. The tower houses eight bells and a community book crossing with over a hundred books. Weddings and funerals enter through fifteenth-century west doors, noting the tower’s unusual offset alignment. The chancel was rebuilt in 1862 by King’s College, Cambridge, and a vestry added at the north-east corner.