St Mary Syleham
This is a nice example of a round tower church with Norman origins featuring visible alterations over the centuries.
The distinguishing feature of this church is the Norman round tower, which has many interesting things about it if we look carefully. Firstly we can see a change in the type of mixed flint and stones used, which shows that it has been extended at some point. The windows visible above this extension line suggest the rest of the tower was probably built in in the post-Norman later medieval period, with the cusps of the window tracery in the early gothic style. We can also see segments of knapped flint placed next to lighter coloured stone around the early gothic belfry windows, creating chequerboard panelling- possibly from early 14th century. Further up are crenelations (turrets) at the top of the tower, which I would guess to be Victorian.
In tune with our assumptions of middle-age tower extension, the nave and chancel can be dated in the early gothic perpendicular style with the chancel itself dating from the 13th century. The chancel has three slightly irregular small, narrow windows on the north and south side. These lancet windows are small, and have a rounded arch at the top, making them distinct from the perpendicular style windows on the nave and suggests that the windows in the chancel were built earlier.
What also makes this church notable is the apparent patchy look with red bricks dotted around the nave, that appear to be used as repairs for different parts of the nave and porch- possibly added anywhere from 18th and 19th centuries. But the brickwork around the third nave window seems smaller and slightly more degraded suggesting these particular parts were added much earlier- this is especially visible on the south-east quoin of the nave as well as creating a curved arch of these bricks above the third window.
While there are some marble tombstones inside the chancel, there are not much other remarkable features inside this church. The hammerbeam roof and simple, wooden corbels and wall posts retain their original Victorian feel when looking up inside the church, as the dark wood contrasts nicely with the whitewashed walls. The pews also retain the wooden, rounded poppy-heads; which are typical for East Anglian churches and slightly rarer in the rest of the country.
Overall, this is a small round tower church, tucked away in the middle of a valley right on the border. The knapped flint contrasts with the stone and brick, to give a patchy and humble feeling to the church. So definitely a church worth seeing with a quiet and charming atmosphere.