The parishes around here tend to have scattered villages, and some have more than one village centre. Battisford church is in the settlement of Battisford Tye, on one of the little lanes between Barking and Combs, with a few houses and a little cemetery across the road for company.
This this an unusual building. There's no other church in Suffolk quite like it. Although the nave and chancel are all of a 13th century piece, the tower fell shortly after the Reformation, and the west wall was buttressed in an unusual and attractive way. The buttress is stepped, up to a little bell gable at the top.
On the south side is an ancient porch, with a very uneven step. If you look closely, you will see that it is made up of two gargoyles, which used to be on the tower, and survived its fall. This porch has not been used for some time - indeed, the door has no opening mechanism. But you go around to the north door, and you step into a neat, bright, clean interior, that has had a great deal of care lavished on it.
A curtain covers the unused south door, but if you look behind it you can see the great wooden stopbar still in place. So often in churches, you see the stopholes where it would fit; but to see it in postion for its defensive purpose is very unusual. Most stopbars were lifted out when not in use; but the one here will slide completely into the eastern stophole, probably accounting for its survival.
If you climb the stairs to the gallery (but mind your head, because people were shorter in those days) you will see at least three things of interest. Firstly, you get a tremendous view of the roof, with the tie beams and king posts spreading away to the east. Secondly, you can see the way that the benches can be extended across the gangway to provide more seating. Thirdly, there's the Queen Anne coat of arms on the west wall.
Another unusual feature of St Mary is the fine set of decalogue boards behind the altar. They are engraved on slate, and have been recut in a modern style after their discovery behind the old reredos in the 1970s.
The above image is from, and the text contains excerpts from Simon Knott's excellent website www.suffolkchurches.co.uk , with grateful thanks.
If anyone would like to expand this Church Micro numbered series please do. Please contact sadexploration via www.geocaching.com so that he can keep track of the church numbers and names to avoid duplication.