Brundish is towards the N of E Suffolk, in a hilly arable region of
dispersed settlements. It is 4 miles N of Framlingham and 9 miles SW of
Halesworth. The old centre was clustered around the church and Brundish Hall
immediately to the NE, with a second nucleus at Brundish Street, a mile to the
NW, centred on Brundish House. Brundish Hall was demolished in the 1920s, and
reputedly shipped to the USA to be rebuilt there, so the church stands alone in
its graveyard, and Brundish Street now represents the centre of the village. St
Lawrence's has a 12thc. W tower of flint with ashlar quoins. It retains traces of round-headed windows, now
blocked; one at a low level and a pair at a higher level on its N, S and W
faces. On the E face, the more elaborate 12thc. double bell-opening remains
higher still, but the other three faces have 15thc. bell-openings at the same
level. There is an embattled parapet, also of flint.
The tower arch is small, plain and partly blocked with a doorway set in it. The
tall nave and chancel are of flint and entirely 15thc.
There is a S porch decorated with flushwork and
repaired with red brick, and the nave and chancel
buttresses also have flushwork decoration. The church is famous for its
brasses; a 14thc. brass of Sir Edmund de Burnedissh, a priest, and 16thc. ones
to the Colby family. Several of the Brundish brasses were stolen in the 19thc.
and that of Sir Francis Colby (c.1570) has since been rediscovered in
the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Attempts by the Parish Council to repatriate it
have so far been unsuccessful, although the museum has supplied a replica to
hang in the church (The Guardian). The church also contains 18thc. box-pews
encasing medieval benches, and carved bench-ends. The chancel was restored in the 19thc., and repairs to the church
were carried out by C. B. Smith of Woodbridge in 1962-63. Romanesque features
recorded here are the tower arch and the east
bell-opening.
