Rushmere St Michael

St Michael, Rushmere

This Rushmere is not to be confused with the large suburb of Ipswich; we are 40 miles away here, in the lanes south of Lowestoft.When Cautley's editors visited this church in 1975, they found it disused and derelict. It was the same for Mortlock in 1990, but already he saw how local people were doing something about it. The reeds were stacked, ready for thatching, and the walls were being repaired.

Visiting today, we see the difference that local pride and loving care can make. For this little church, which has suffered centuries of neglect, stands trim and proud in its pretty churchyard in the middle of nowhere, with a couple of cottages for company, at a crossroads among angelica-lined lanes.

Its tower is round, putting me in mind of nearby Herringfleet. Like Herringfleet, this church is locked without a keyholder, which seems a terrible shame, considering that it lay wide open for so many years.

However, looking through the windows, the interior is neat and uncluttered in the Churches Conservation Trust manner (although this church is not redundant, being a joint parish with Gisleham).

There is no ceiling, so the inside of the thatch is exposed, which is delightful. It is also possible to see the great treasure of the church, a wall painting of an unidentified saint in the east splay of a south window. He is almost faded as a result of long exposure to the weather, but the outline is clear, and his rosary beads hang down from his belt, a reminder that prayers have been answered here. I was told later that the left-hand cottage may be a keyholder, but I have been unable to check.

St Michael, Rushmere, can be found just north of Henstead, about a mile west of the A12, from which it is signposted. I found it locked without a keyholder.

St Michael, with its brand-spanking-new roof.