Church of St Mary, Burnham Deepdale

St Mary’s is an active Anglican church in the villageSmall rural collection of buildings with a church. of Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk. It is in the Archdeaconry of Lynn, the Deanery of Heacham & Rising, the Diocese of Norwich, and is one of the eight parish churches in the BeneficeOriginally used in feudal societies to describe a grant of land as a reward for services rendered. In modern usage it refers to a collection of parishes working together under a single incumbent. of Hunstanton and Saxon Shore.^[1]

The oldest parts of the church are the 11th-century round tower to the west, and the wall adjoining the tower, both thought to pre-date the Norman Conquest of England.^[2][3] The building underwent a programme of renovation works in the late 18th and 19th centuries,^[4] and major reconstruction in 1870 under the direction of the architect and glass painter Frederick Preedy.^[5]

St Mary’s was designated a Grade II* listed buildingStructure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. in 1953.^[2]

Architecture

St Mary’s is one of 129 surviving round-tower churches in Norfolk.^[6] Built of flint, with 19th-century stone dressings, it consists of a round tower to the west, naveCentral part of a church, used by the laiety. and north aislePart of a church on either side of the nave or choir, separated from them by arcades, colonnades or piers. More generally, a passageway between seats in an auditorium, shelves in a supermarket and so on., south porchVestibule before the main entrance to a Christian church, less sacred than the church proper., chancelPart of a church containing the altar, used by the officiating clergy. and north vestryRoom in Christian churches for the storage of liturgical vestments, sacred vessels and parish records..^[2]

The interior has a 12th-century font supported by 19th-century piers. The High Victorian stained-glass east window dates from 1873, and there are “good” 15th-century glass fragments collected in various other windows and in the squintObliquely cut opening in the chancel wall of a Christian church, allowing celebrants in the side chapels to suspend their own services when the parish priest at the high altar reached the point of consecrating the eucharist. by the pulpit.^[2]