St Michael the Archangel, Beccles
St Michael the Archangel, Beccles
St Michael the Archangel is the Grade I parish church of Beccles, Suffolk: a large Perpendicular town church with a famous detached bell tower, in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
- Location
- Beccles, Suffolk
- Country
- England
- County
- Suffolk
- City / town
- Beccles
- Address
- Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 9HE
- Postcode
- NR34 9HE
- Built
- Later 14th century; south porch mid-15th century; detached tower early 16th century
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Michael
- Diocese
- St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
- Parish
- Beccles with Worlingham, North Cove and Barnby
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Perpendicular
- Materials
- Flint; freestone south porch; detached tower faced in Roche Abbey stone
- Grid reference
- TM 421 905
- Opening hours
- Open for visitors from 9am to 5pm every day in summer and every morning in winter and has the fascinating history of the church on display.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
The present church was built in the second half of the fourteenth century, replacing an earlier building. There is no structural division between nave and chancel; wide aisles run the full length of the church, some 147 feet. Flint is the main walling material. The two-storey south porch, an unusually lavish East Anglian freestone composition, was added in the mid-fifteenth century (a bequest of 1455). Historic England listed the church at Grade I on 16 March 1948 (list entry 1186885).
The free-standing tower stands to the south-east, on firmer ground: the west end of the churchyard falls toward the river and was judged unsafe for a heavy steeple. Construction ran through the first half of the sixteenth century (bequests 1515–47). The tower, separately listed Grade I (1298972), is faced with Roche Abbey stone and stands about 97 feet high.
The church is the principal church of the parish of Beccles with Worlingham, North Cove and Barnby.