St Michael and All Angels, Martlesham Heath

Martlesham Heath is that rarest of things; a planned 1960s community that actually works. Here during the Second World War was the Martlesham Heath aerodrome; a USAAF base towards the end of the war, it is more famously the base from which Sir Douglas Bader flew Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. Some of the aerodrome buildings survive on the other side of the A12, And the famous Black Tiles pub where the pilots filled up with Dutch Courage before flying their missions is a mile's walk away, in the sister village of Martlesham.

But there was nothing here at all when, in the late 1960s, Clifford Culpin and Partners laid out the plans for an 'instant village'. As Charles McKean's Architectural Guide to Cambridge and East Anglia points out, this idea has more to commend it than some would think. He quotes Culpin, that "the real task was to put as much traditional village character into the designs... without those traditional inconveniences inevitable in picturesque villages".

St Michael's pagoda, on the edge of the village green.

So, here we have a vast village green, with a cricket pitch at the heart of it. Around it on two sides are pleasant terraced and semi-detached houses, with closes of other houses snaking off behind. Now, this rural vernacular cottage style was most unusual in the 1960s, when Ipswich Borough Council was overseeing the monolithic concrete tower blocks of Greyfriars less than five miles away. Today, such houses are familiar from a thousand and one executive home estates, which is a pity. But they still look good here, not least because people here have so much space.

On the other two sides are the essential services. A small shopping complex, which, despite being 1960s concrete, has survived the squalor that might have been expected of it (and has also survived a huge 24 hour Tesco being dumped half a mile away). There is a pub (we weren't such puritans in the 1960s) named for Douglas Bader, and a pretty pavilion, that serves as a village community hall. No cars are allowed into this area; everything has to park behind the shops. It is as pleasant and as pretty as it is possible for a 1960s development to be.

Between the pavilion and the pub sits the striking 1970s church of St Michael and All Angels. Its pagoda-like tower is the main feature on this wide village green, which is just as it should be, echoing Cavendish in the way that church, pub and green work together. The entrance to the church is secluded behind the building, which is unfortunate, but rather typical of its period. The east end is screened by glass, the stained glass panels of a reredos being visible inside.

Also visible through the windows are meeting rooms and corridors, although not the sanctuary itself, which seems to be screened off. My one memory of being inside this building before is lost to me, so it can't have been very dramatic. Whatever, it is firmly locked today, so you are unlikely to get a sight of it yourself.

Suffolk urban planning is usually considerate and thoughtful. Not here, however; for the dual carriageways have surrounded Martlesham Heath, and the even more modern village of Kesgrave approaches it like a tidal wave. While the illusion of a village is easy to maintain standing outside the church on the village green, the map tells a different story, and today this is little more than just another housing estate.

And yet, it remains an excellent one, and there are not many other 1960s-built estates where I would be prepared to live. I can only compare it with Cambridge's equivalent purpose-built village, Bar Hill, which is a desolate place, the village heart dead, abandoned to gang violence, vandalism and drug addiction. St Michael and All Angels is not the only blessing that the people of Martlesham Heath retain.

St Michael and All Angels is in the 'Martlesham Heath Residential Area', signposted off the A12 at the roundabout between the BT Research HQ and the Tesco Superstore. Don't expect to find it open.