---
title: "St Genevieve, Fornham"
description: "Located in Fornham, Suffolk. Built 14th century; nave destroyed 1782. Grade II*. Decorated Gothic (ruined west tower) style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Other","Suffolk","Fornham St Genevieve","Grade II*","Ruin","Flint","Fornham Park"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-genevieve-fornham"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:42:13.944Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:33:50.853Z"
location: "Fornham, Suffolk"
country: "England"
county: "Suffolk"
town: "Fornham"
address: "Fornham Park, Fornham, Suffolk, IP28 6TT"
postcode: "IP28 6TT"
built: "14th century; nave destroyed 1782"
denomination: "Other"
dedications: ["Genevieve"]
grade: "II*"
style: "Decorated Gothic (ruined west tower)"
materials: "Rubble flint with freestone quoins"
openingHours: "In a private field, can be viewed from the road."
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1376908"
gridReference: "TL 839 683"
accessNotes: "Ruin in a private field at Fornham Park; the tower can be viewed from the road."
---

# St Genevieve, Fornham

The ruined west tower of St Genevieve stands in Fornham Park, Fornham St Genevieve, Suffolk, a Grade II* remnant of the former parish church retained as a landscape feature after a late-eighteenth-century fire.

## Overview

Historic England records only the ruinous west tower of the former parish church. It is fourteenth-century, of rubble flint with freestone quoins, in three unbuttressed stages with a plain uncrenellated parapet. A two-light window with cusped heads lights each face of the top stage; the middle west stage has a quatrefoil and the first stage a lancet, with a high tower arch to the east. The rest of the church was accidentally burnt down on 24 June 1782. The listing notes that the tower was consciously retained after the fire as a romantic focal point in the late-eighteenth-century park. Capability Brown visited Fornham in 1781 and again in 1782 after the fire and produced schemes for the park and for rebuilding the church, though the extent of his contribution remains uncertain. The tower forms part of a significant group with surviving service buildings and walled gardens.

Wikipedia and local histories give an alternative fire date of 19 May 1775 and attribute the blaze to a man shooting jackdaws from the steeple; the statutory list uses 24 June 1782. The ruin stands in private parkland north of Bury St Edmunds and is visible from the road.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1376908](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1376908)
- [British Listed Buildings: Church of St Genevieve at Fornham Park](https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101376908-church-of-st-genevieve-at-fornham-park-fornham-st-genevieve)