St Helen
Ranworth, Norfolk
St Helen's is famous for its remarkable screen, a masterpiece made in about 1450.
All Saints church contains many preReformation features including the unique late medieval wall painting of the life of St Christopher, showing his life before he carried the Christ child across the river, then his torture and death when he would not renounce his new faith. There is also a coloured octagonal font displaying saints and martyrs, the remains of the Rood stairs and niches that would have contained the statues of the saints to whom the church was dedicated.
The Saxon Norman round tower and flint nave and chancel walls also contain decorated limestone, indicating reuse from an earlier or nearby building.
The church now stands in a remote location, surrounded by fields, and within two different church yard areas. That to the south is wild flower rich, carefully managed by BADCOG, the local conservation group. The northern churchyard was more recently farm land, now given to the church for burials, with a wide area of land now being managed for wildlife conservation by the Bure Valley Conservation Group.
Tours, talks and various social events are organised by The Friends of All Saints Church in order to raise funds to keep the building and grounds in good order.
