St Andrew Frenze
This is a simple, small church reduced from its original size, with early gothic architecture but without obvious features older than that.
This small church is tucked away in the south Norfolk countryside and is seemingly stuck in time. St Andew Frenze is just a single-cell church and not the typical kind of church common to the area- the simple nave would have been normal for many Saxon churches but there is no material evidence of anything earlier than the Norman period or any Romanesque architectural features. This church just has a nave, no chancel (the chancel was destroyed in 1827), made of flint and other loose stone: with a small; slatted bell turret at the west end.
The south porch is noticeable because it is made of Tudor red-bricks, with brick window mouldings without glass. On the inside the nave has a simple feel to it, with only two dusty wooden benches at the back and the rest of the space has individual chairs. Although at the front there is a family box pew in the Jacobean style (early 17th century architecture) and on the other side of the aisle is the pulpit with polygonal canopy above, which is also in the Jacobean style of wooden craft design. We could easily infer that there had been renovations to the church around this period of time including the porch, possibly funded by a single family given the pew and the small size of the church itself. Also notable in front of the sanctuary are the brasses in the aisle depicting local benefactors to the church, the ones I have photographed I believe depict John and Jane Blenerhaysset who reportedly died in 1510 and 1520, although there are a few others and imprints in stone where the originals would have been.
The early gothic windows with the simple tracery in the form of cusps on the western end (the rounded stone mouldings decorating the window) and the simple pointed window to the eastern end of the nave, are from the early 14th century including the larger one above the altar. Outside we can see one buttress on the corner of the nave and then three along both the north and south side of the nave. The corner ones have knapped flint between the stone quoins, but this is not decorative flushwork, and the rest have a mix of rough flint and other stones and bricks. What connects many of the features of this church is the simplicity of the architecture, and thus is different from the typical perpendicular gothic styles of many of the churches of the two counties; which are also much larger with two cells or arcades.
This small church appears subtle and secluded almost as if it is hidden away from more imposing churches in the area. The charm of this church is its size and simplicity its lack of large architectural features and styles but it has its own hidden details to give a more unique history to it, including carved wooden monkeys on the prayer desk and carvings of windows on the font. St Andrew Frenze is located 1-1/4 miles from Diss and really feels secluded, which is charming in itself.