Visit-a-Church
Key Image St Catherine
Norwich Road
NR29 5QA Ludham
United Kingdom
Denomination: Anglican
Congregation: Ludham, Potter Heigham, Hickling and Catfield (Diocese of Norwich, Archdeaconry of Norfolk, Deanery of St Benet at Waxham & Tunstead)
Geogr. Coordinates: 52.70932° N, 1.53389° E
Geo Location
Reference year: 1466
Architectural style: Gothic (Perpendicular)
Building type: Basilica
Description: Nave in the early Perpendicular style with a high upper storey supported by octagonal pillars; west tower and chancel dating to the 14th century
Name derivation: From St Catherine
Building material
  • Flint walls from quarternary and rubble stone, rectangular facing of Lincolnshire limestone and Bath Stone, brick; slate-roofed chancel
Font
  • Octagonal font (15th c.) with a base showing so-called “Woodwoses” (wild men) clad in animal skins, one a man with a club and a shield, the other one a rare woman with club, but without shield
Noteworthy
  • Masons’ marks and historic graffiti throughout the church
  • Chancel screen with an inscription dated 1493, with two wooden panels showing St Mary Magdalene, St Stephen, St Edmond, King Henry VI, St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Gregory, St Jerome, King Edward the Confessor, St Walstan, St Lawrence and St Appolonia
  • Well-preserved open hammerbeam roof
  • Chancel arch with capitals carved with grotesques (north) and seaweed foliage (south)
  • Tympanon in the chancel arch showing the Crucifixion on the west side (mid-16th c.) and Elizabeth I's coat of arms on the east side (the sides were swapped during the reformation, and swapped back after the discovery of the mural c. 1890)
History:
14th cent.:   Construction of a new church mirroring the wealth of the parish, replacing an older, smaller and much less impressive chapel; chancel and west tower still remaining
1466:   Reconstruction of nave and aisles, modification of the tower
1861:   Restoration
1891:   Restoration
1969:   Restoration
Important persons:
Patron:  Catherine (?–307, martyr, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers)
Sources
Historic England: Church of St. Catherine, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1049913, retrieved 16/01/2021
Jenkins, Simon: England's Thousand Best Churches, Penguin Press, London 1999, p. 462
Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey et al.: St. Catherine's Church Ludham Historic Graffiti Trail
St. Catherine's PCC, Ludham: The Church of St. Catherine, Ludham, Norfolk
Surman, Richard: Betjeman’s Best British Churches, Collins, London 2011, p. 470
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TuK Bassler
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