St Mary, open, is mostly notable for its hammerbeam angel roof, C14th north aisle parclose screen and the north arcade [Mee's claim that it was inspired by Milan Cathedral seems a tad unlikely to me]; to be honest I didn't find it a particularly interesting interior.
ST MARY. Essentially of the early C14 with a most uncommon N arcade of four bays. Very finely moulded piers, their front mouldings running continuously into the arches, their mouldings towards the arch openings interrupted by capital bands with fleurons. Steep arches. N windows with finely moulded rere-arches . Finely moulded S doorway (continuous mouldings). Early C14 also the lower chancel and the W tower. The bell-openings are cusped lancets, and below them are quatrefoil windows in circles. Perp S porch of timber with cusped side openings and decorated bargeboards. Perp hammerbeam roof in the nave. The chancel roof is single-framed and may be of the same date as the chancel. - SCREENS. Of the Perp rood screen only the dado survives. More interesting is the N parclose screen. This belongs to the C14. It has shafts instead of mullions and several simple patterns of flowing tracery.
BURSTALL. It has a brook running into the Orwell and a church 600 years old, rich with gifts from the centuries, guarded by a tower with walls pierced by quatrefoils. The doorway arch is made of upturned limbs of trees, with the familiar East Anglian carving.
The interior was the work of men who must have greatly loved their task, and found in Italy their inspiration in fashioning the clustered columns of the arcade. Copied from those in Milan Cathedral, their dainty capitals are delightful, some with mouldings, others with tiny faces and rosettes. Four little octagonal pillars cluster round the pedestal of the font. A fine 15th century hammer-beam roof spans the nave, supported by modern winged angels; a splendid 14th century screen separates the chancel from the aisle: and the chancel screen has still in it the base of the medieval roodscreen. There are several old benches.
The gifts of our own time to the church include a charming east window of Gabriel bringing the good news to the Madonna, and of St John tenderly leading her, bowed and weeping, from the foot of the Cross. The peace memorial window has two Old Testament subjects. One is of Joshua, with helmet, red cloak, and spear, and with him the Captain of the Host in golden armour, his sword resting on his shoulder; the other is the scene in the tent of Saul, who, with his spear dug into the ground, sleeps with his armour by him, while David restrains an attendant from killing him.
We noticed that George Naylor was vicar of Burstall for the remarkable period of 59 years from 1795.
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