St. Mary, Rickinghall Inferior

 It's called Inferior due to being down in the village - lower than Rickinghall Superior on higher ground a mile or so away.

One of Suffolk's round tower churches and quite an unusual shape with a south aisle the same width as the nave.

It was a gloomy Saturday morning - the time I knew the church would be open- when I visited so the photos aren't so good except with a flash inside.

The porch is interesting with these open windows  

and seating inside

The view down the nave

The reredos behind the altar is medieval and Simon Knott in the Suffolk Churches site says it might have come from the rood loft as they are too short to be from the rood screen

The wide south aisle

The font has a very unusual cover.

The stained glass in this window is made up of small pieces saved from a much earlier time

A US Regimental flag given to the church in memory of the hospital situated in the village during  1944-45

The glass below commemorates the Millenium

The boards below tell the story of the recent restoration of the roof

Very few of the churches I visit have candles to light in remembrance but when they do I always light one

It's difficult to read who this memorial is remembering but I don't think it's a war memorial.

Here's the LINK to the Suffolk Churches Index for more details.

While I was googling to find out why there was a US flag in the church I came across THIS  "Village in the Wheatfields " about Rickinghall in 1949 from the East Anglian Film Archive. The narrators accent is definitely NOT a Suffolk one! and the people filmed were not always who they were supposed to be.

This is the site in case the link doesn't work    https://eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1829

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Sue