English Heritage sites near Semer Parish
LINDSEY ST JAMES'S CHAPEL
2 miles from Semer Parish
A pretty thatched 13th century chapel with lancet windows.
MISTLEY TOWERS
11 miles from Semer Parish
Two porticoed Classical towers, which stood at each end of a grandiose but highly unconventional Georgian church, designed by Robert Adam in 1776.
LEXDEN EARTHWORKS AND BLUEBOTTLE GROVE
12 miles from Semer Parish
The banks and ditches of a series of late Iron Age defences protecting the western side of Camulodunum – pre-Roman Colchester.
COLCHESTER, ST BOTOLPH'S PRIORY
13 miles from Semer Parish
The remains of one of the first Augustinian priories in England, founded in c.1100 and an impressive example of early Norman architecture.
ST JOHN'S ABBEY GATE
13 miles from Semer Parish
This pinnacled gatehouse, elaborately decorated in East Anglian 'flushwork', is the sole survivor of the wealthy Benedictine abbey of St John.
BURY ST EDMUNDS ABBEY
14 miles from Semer Parish
The extensive remains of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England, shrine of St Edmund.
Churches in Semer Parish
Semer, All Saints
Watson's Hill/Church Lane
Semer
Ipswich
01449 403698
http://www.bildestonareachurches.co.uk
During the current situation we are not holding services or events on Sundays or weekdays. For those who have booked weddings or want to arrange a funeral please contact our priest in charge, Revd Elke Cattermole 01449 403698.
There ought to be a prize for finding All Saints Church, Semer. You turn off the main Stowmarket to Hadleigh road just over a little humpback bridge and look for the mere - if you see it as you go along the lane, you have just passed the entrance to the meadow across which you will spot the church - it's on a slight rise to protect it from flooding. Sadly it is kept locked at the moment, unless there is something happening there, but you can carry on up the hill, turning right at the top to Hollow Trees farm shop and cafe and ask at the desk to borrow the key - a curiosity in itself!
Lots of polish goes into this church so that as you walk in you are met by a view of shiny pews and sparkling brasswork. The patterned tiles of the floor lead the eye up to a chancel about as big as the nave and a generous sanctaury for a little church. It is in a beautiful setting beside the river, next to a meadow and the Mere which gives Semer its name. If you attend a service, park along the left side of the path through the meadow. The right side goes quite close to the water!
A curious carving of a head in the porch is said to be a likeness of one of the churchwardens though it pre-dates him I think. The organ still has the old pump beside it though it uses electricity nowadays and there is a small piece of wall painting to spot.
There is a fine Royal Arms of George III, painted before the union with Ireland, and a plain square cut font which is as old as the nave - 14th century it is thought.
Worship here is most often on the 1st and 3rd Sundays each month, though celebrations and festivals etc do alter that pattern now and again.
No churches found in Semer Parish