St Margaret's Church Upgraded

The status of St Margaret's has been raised to a Grade I Listing which was announced by the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) on 26 September. This will not surprise those of us who have long regarded it as an outstanding parish church worthy of greater national recognition.

Nikolaus Pevsner described it forty years ago as "certainly the most spectacular church in Ipswich." He went on to note many good features including the "splendid double-hammerbeam roof" but only mentioned the "Baroque painting on the panels between the main timbers."

The DCMS citation gives no reasons for the upgrading but it seems a reasonable deduction that the recently cleaned uniquely painted roof would have enhanced its claims. Other Grade I buildings in Ipswich are the Ancient House, Christchurch Mansion, the Unitarian Meeting House and Willis.