Unless you are a golfer, and like that sort of thing, this village is greatly spoilt by the conversion of its green into a golf course. I am not a golfer, and it is hard to see any great beauty in the main road through this village, which is in any case the main Colchester to Sudbury road, despite the collection of fine 16th and 17th century houses on the north side.

But the setting of the church is lovely, down a lane opposite the golf course. Quite what the people who live in the house on the north side of the churchyard have done to deserve it, I don't know; but it must have been something really good, because it is one of the sweetest houses I've seen around here.

Broad utilitarian roofs conceal a lovely interior.

By the 1960s, this church was in a terrible state; the roof of the nave was in desperate need of repair, and the congregation had retreated into the chancel. In a great act of pragmatism, the nave and tower were declared redundant, and vested in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund, now the Churches Conservation Trust, who carry out their duties here with customary enthusiasm, mostly due to the remarkable energy of field officer Roy Tricker.

The exterior is somewhat stark at a distance, but closer to there are lovely little headstops surviving on the windows, and the 14th century wooden porch is a delight, one of the largest of its kind. On the north side, so you'll need to go round, is one of Suffolk's best Norman doorways.

During the restoration of the nave walls, remarkable wallpaintings were found, which have been carefully restored. They show a sequence of three, possibly four moments in the story of the Incarnation.

From the left, the angel appears to Mary, who appears uncharacteristically confident as she faces him. Another angel has his back to her, and Mortlock suggests he may be attending the subsequent Visitation scene. However, this doesn't seem quite right, and as there is quite a large blank at this point in the sequence (possibly the site of a later window, now filled in) I wondered if it is actually the appearance of the angel to Joseph, as mentioned in St Matthew's Gospel. Militating against this is that the other three scenes are from St Luke; also, they form the first three joyful mysteries of the rosary, although of course the sequence was rather less concrete at the time this was painted in the 13th century.

After the Visitation, there is a faint but exquisite Nativity. It is one of the best sequences I know, rather different in scale and style to the same sequence at nearby Wissington.

The paintings are so remarkable that you might not notice something equally remarkable in front of them. This is a pre-Reformation pulpit, in a wineglass style. Several of these survive in Suffolk; what makes this one so special is that it retains its dedicatory inscription, Orate P(ro) A(n)i(m)a Richi Mody et Leticie (Consortis suae) (Pray for the soul of Richard Mody and Letitia his wife).

In any case, the most significant memorial here is up in the parish church. You step through glass doors into a most pleasant interior, noticing the marvellous set of sedilia and double piscina in the south side of the sanctuary before your eye is caught by the tomb to Margaret Boteler, who died in 1410.

Margaret Boteler's tomb.

The shields are all recoloured of course, but the most remarkable thing is the detailing on her dress.

Another lovely detail in the chancel is the scattering of medieval glass in the upper lights of the east window, and in the windows on the south side. One seems to show a rather earnest monk.

I visited the church on Boxing Day 2000, with the temperature plummeting, and snow just a few hours away. But this was a warm, inviting place; stepping back into the nave, the coldness hit me, probably a consequence of the Minton tiles that the Victorians covered the floor with.

I signed the visitors book, a new one; it had just one previous entry. This was from the occasion of a Deanery synod a few weeks previously, and featured a dozen or so names of prominent clergy, as well as that of Roy Tricker himself. Not Bishops, or Simon Jenkins; but I still felt slightly overawed as I signed my name below them.

All Saints, Newton, is signposted from the main road through the village, the A134 Sudbury to Colchester road. It is kept open.

You can also visit the entry for Newton at Aidan Semmens' Sylly Suffolk, which includes pictures of the headstops.