A converted medieval church in Suffolk asks for £750k

Medieval meets modern at this converted church in the Suffolk countryside – reborn as a characterful four-bedroom home.

The Grade I-listed chapel is in the north Suffolk town of Rishangles and dates from the 12th century when it was dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of women in childbirth. It was constructed at the end of the 1100s from ragstone rubble with flint and limestone dressings, though it was added to over the subsequent centuries. The north doorway, for example, with its pointed Gothic arch, dates from the 1250s, and the tower from the 14th century.

Even the Victorians tinkered with the medieval building, adding new buttresses and replacing the old windows in the late 19th century.

Although deconsecrated for a long time, it is still known locally as The Old Church. A local furniture maker converted and renovated it in the 1980s, and its history imbues every nook and cranny, from the cruciform marks left at the entrance by crusaders to the stained glass windows in the living room.

What was the chancel is now the main living space, with towering ceilings and several stained glass windows that cast colourful pools of light across the walls. Chandeliers hang from the restored roof, and there’s a large brick fireplace with a wood-burning stove.

Off the living room, the old rood screen—an ornate partition between the chancel and nave—has been removed, and the balcony has been turned into a study.

The kitchen is also intriguing: 1940s Aga is the focal point of the space, which is fitted with cream cabinets with arches (a nod to the Gothic theme) and wooden worktops. The appliance has been converted to electricity, though there’s also a two-oven gas oven and an Aha woodburner in the brick hearth.

Elsewhere, the old nave is now the primary bedroom suite, with a full-length tracery window with purple stained glass. A second bedroom is tucked into the slope of the beamed roof of the converted church, and a third is nestled in the eaves. The fourth bedroom has access to the church tower via a glass spiral staircase—not for the faint of heart—where there’s a library and terrace with views over the Suffolk property’s acre of gardens, encircled by woodland and fields.

Inigo is listing the four-bedroom country property for £750,000. The market towns of Eye and Debenham are four miles away, while Diss—which has a train connection to London—is around 10 miles away.