St Michael’s Church
Visit Framlingham Trail
St Michael’s Church (c.1350-1555)
Full of colour, carvings, paintings, castle connections and calm – do take a look inside. Treasures include: medieval wall painting (c.1400); carved capitals (c.1100s); world-famous Thamar organ (late 1600s); fine hammer beam roof (1521); magnificent Tudor tombs – The ‘Poet’ Earl of Surrey; Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk; Henry FitzRoy, illegitimate son of Henry VIII.
A painted memorial inside the church commemorates the USAAF 390th Bombardment Group (stationed at RAF Framlingham (Parham) 1943-45). Outside, the Portland Stone War Memorial (1921) sits below the town clock, presented by Sir Henry Thompson in memory of his father (1872).
Location
Continue your Trail
Scroll right to head east to Regency House (on Church Street) and Double Street towards Framlingham Castle.
Scroll left to head south-west to Market Hill, or to cross Church Street to take Crown & Anchor Lane to Fore Street for The Old Forge.
St Michael’s Church
YOU ARE HERE
— Where to next? —
About the Historic ‘Upper’ Town
The layout of the historic upper town on view today owes much to the rebuilding of the castle after 1173. Originally ‘town’ life was contained within the castle bailey, but the high walls and deep ditches drew new lines. The early 1200s possibly saw plots for dwellings (Double Street) and a site for the church set out just beyond the earthworks.
The area closest to the castle has remained firmly at the heart of the community. Today it is home to hospitality, sociable spaces / venues like the Castle Community Rooms (2023) and The Theatre / No. 10 Church Street (converted 2020). It is also where the Town Council offices are located.
