St Mary le Tower is the largest of the Ipswich town churches and remains in use for worship and clearly a source of civic pride considering how much money was spent n it in the Victorian period. What we see today is almost entirely the work of R.M.Phipson who rebuilt the church in the 1860s, leaving only the nave arcades within from the medieval building. The new church was richly furnished and given a full set of Victorian stained glass which comes as a surprise after so many mostly clear-glazed interiors in Suffolk. Clearly this was a well funded church in the closing decades of the 19th century.
The exterior is somewhat elusive despite the scale of the building, tucked away behind the streets in a leafy churchyard which makes it very difficult to get a complete view of the building (let alone a photograph of it!). The graceful tower and spire soar above and are the most easily appreciated feature, with the entrance porch situated immediately below them.
Once within the interior opens out to grand proportions, the light levels muted by the abundance of Victorian glass. There are a few reminders of the old church in the font and some old woodwork but overall this all appears to be very much high Victorian work, the medieval arches blending seamlessly with their later surroundings. The furnishing of the main altar and Lady Chapel with their rich reredos paintings is especially fine.
I had very little time to explore inside this church: despite spending several nights in the hotel adjoining its churchyard I found the church locked on a couple of occasions and was generally leaving too early and returning too late to try again during my stay. I only got lucky at the very last minute when I noticed the door open and a service about to start, and asked the lady at the door if she’d mind me having a quick look inside. I was very brief but still managed to outstay my welcome (though I would probably still have just avoided the telling off from the vicar had my camera not decided to momentarily malfunction as he approached and delay me long enough to make things awkward).
I may have picked a bad week to visit as I have heard the church is more regularly open to visitors. Simon gives a fuller description and coverage of the windows and fittings I missed in his summary below:-
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/stmaryletower.htm
