Cut Bench Mark - Church of St. Mary, A148 Fakenham Road, East Rudham, Norfolk. PE31 8SU
Posted by: 
greysman
N 52° 49.252 E 000° 42.620
31U E 345715 N 5854800
Largely rebuilt after a major collapse in 1873 this parish church has a chancel built in c1200. The cut mark on the porch is extremely worn.
Waymark Code: WMVHJG
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/21/2017
Views: 0
This Grade II* listed parish church was largely restored by John Clarke of Norwich & Newmarket after the tower collapsed in 1873 and reopened in 1876, but there remains early evidence in the c1200 chancel, C13th in the south transept, and C15th in the south porch. Built of rubble and knapped flint with stone dressings and C20th replacement concrete pantile roofs. It consists of a west tower, four-bay nave and aisles, south porch, a two bay south aisle transept chapel, and three bay chancel.
The tower was rebuilt in a much simpler design than originally built. It has wrap-around buttresses on the west end, a recessed square panel at the top of each face each with a two-light lancet bell-opening, and crenellated top. The modern clock has four faces, one on each side partially blocking the bell openings and sounds the hours on the tenor bell.
The south porch has a knapped flint south face with a C15th nodding ogee headed niche above with rectangular drip mould head and armorial panel base holding a statuette of St.Mary the Virgin. It has two diagonal off-set buttresses and blocked brick-dressed east and west openings. The church entrance arch is c1876, the rib-vaulted roof is also of 1876 but the central C15th boss of the Holy Trinity is C15th. The outer porch arch is moulded of c1300 with c1300 label stop heads.
This cut-mark is badly worn, it's on the lowest stone block at the bottom of the east side of the outer porch doorway at 0.20m above ground and last verified in 1966 as being 50.387m above the Newlyn datum.
Words from British Listed Buildings and Simon Knott's Suffolk Churches with additions from own on site observations.
Coordinates are for the south porch entrance.