Fire at Ipswich church

 

The fire was serious, but could have been worse. It was largely contained in the tower, but there were some smoke and heat damage effects. This included damage to the war memorial screen, the parish records, various hatchments and to the oldest working clock in Suffolk.

 

The landmark red brick tower is one of Suffolk’s finest Tudor towers, and there is a legend that bricks from Thomas Wolsey’s college project were used here when the college project failed.

 

The church room, to the north of the tower, is also very old, being reputedly the oldest inhabited building in Ipswich.

 

On of St Mary’s churchwardens said of the effects of the blaze “It's bad but could have been a lot worse. Apart from smoke & heat effect, most of the damage is contained to the tower, but even that appears to be structurally sound. We will hold services for the next few days in the parish room behind the church, but should be able to clean the church up sufficiently to be back in within a week - perhaps with the aid of a generator.”