Thetford, Norfolk - St Mary the Less

Cards on the table, Thetford. is. a. hellhole. Whoever is responsible for traffic management should be sacked and the people responsible for its development need to be held accountable for what Simon Knott memorably describes as the "rape of Thetford". Generally I find this area of Norfolk to be amongst the most attractive of East Anglian delights but Thetford is an irradicable stain. It also appears to be fairly Godless [unsurprising] since two of its old churches are redundant and the third locked. It's a soul destroying town.

Another redundant church but luckily:

www.edp24.co.uk/news/grade-ii-listed-st-mary-the-less-chu...

Jenny Freeman has snapped up the 14th century St Mary the Less Church in Bury Road, Thetford, with the intention of turning it into flats.

The purchase signals the end of a long period of uncertainty for the church, which has changed hands several times in recent years.

It has also been listed on both English Heritage and Norfolk County Council’s Buildings at Risk list.
Dr Freeman said the church was in a sorry state, but was salvageable.

“It is in gross disrepair. It’s full of pigeons and many of the windows are badly damaged. It’s dreadful and I don’t know why it wasn’t protected earlier.

“But fortunately the roof seems to be reasonable and the building is actually very dry inside.
“The burial ground is very pretty with some beautiful plants and trees,” she said.

Dr Freeman is a council member of The Chapels Society, a group which helps to preserve places of worship.

She said St Mary the Less would be the 28th refurbishment project of its kind she had carried out.
“I’ve been working in the field for nearly all my adult life and I was looking for a project on the Buildings at Risk list.

“When I saw the church, I saw it had great character with the huge tower, but was so sad. I felt I could make something of it,” she said.

Dr Freeman is now working with Breckland Council’s conservation officers to draw up a planning application for the project.

She said she expected work to begin next year, pending approval of the plans.

The building has been derelict since 2004 when it was bought by Rod Collins for £124,000.

Mr Collins had been trying to offload the church for several years, during which time Breckland Council carried out emergency works on a large hole in the roof.

Stuart Wilson, secretary of the Thetford Society, said the society was delighted with Dr Freeman’s involvement.

ST MARY THE LESS, Bury Road. Perp, with chancel lengthened in white brick. Two-bay N arcade. The pier has capitals only towards the arches. - FONT. Square, with tapering sides. Norman. Primitive volutes at the corners. Incised band of scallops between. - PLATE. Chalice and Paten, 1755; Flagon, 1778; Almsdish, 1785, all London made. - MONUMENT. Sir Richard Fulmodeston d. 1567. This was originally a tomb-chest. The large tablet with coats of arms in extremely simple framing is the former front, the lower part is the former ends. The inscription is a copy.

Works are underway:

For Mee see here.

Flickr.