File:Salle, Ss Peter & Paul church (28198342662).jpg

Grade I listed

This large perpendicular church in a relatively remote location was built between around 1405 and 1420. It was financed by at least four Lords of Manors and other men with wealth acquired from wool. There were at least six Guilds Chapels, and a chaplain and clerks in each Chapel prayed daily for donors' souls.

There is a west tower, north and south porch with parvises, nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south transepts and chancel. The west tower is of four stages, the last stage was built around 1511. There is a west door with censing Angels and Shields over it. The centre of the tower has a "sound hole" with delicate tracery. The top has richly decorated battlements. There are eight bells.

The north and south porches are of two storeys, with stair turret access. The north porch parvise has a vaulted ceiling with carved bosses. There is the remains of a piscina, and this was probably a Lady Chapel. The south porch has a standard beamed roof, and the parvise was probably a Treasury, as the timbers of the roof have iron bands for protection.

The nave has six-bay arcades, the piers having four shafts. There is a tall clerestory, and a window over the chancel arch. The chancel has a seven light east window of plain glass with some mediaeval glass in the tracery depicting the nine orders of Angels. The south transept has a four light south window and a three light east window. There is some mediaeval glass in the traceries. The north transept, originally a Chapel of Thomas Rose, d. 1441, was restored in 1910 by Sir Alfred Jodrell. He donated three stained-glass windows, some of which have original glass in the tracery. The western window represents the history of the church. The top four lights of the west window contain a message "Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land, hath this been in your days or even in the days of your fathers?". The north window has been blocked.

The roof, like many other East Anglian churches, has carved Angels, most of which retain the original painting. There are also carved roof bosses in the chancel with various scenes, e.g. Nativity, Last Supper etc.

There is a tall tower arch with a ringing gallery at the base of the tower. This also houses a balustrade and crane supporting the font canopy, all done in carved wood with original colours. The octagonal font from circa 1437 depicts the Seven Sacraments and The Crucifixion. There is also an inscription recording the donors John and Agnes Luce. The figures at the base have been mutilated.

The pulpit is originally from the 15th century and was converted into a triple-decker in 1611.

The stalls have carvings on the armrests and misericords, and the benches have carved poppy heads. Little remains of the original screen, but the panels still retain original paint depicting the Doctors of the Church and The Apostles. There are several good brasses in the church, including a "shroud brass" to John Brigge, and one to Geoffrey Boleyn.

At the end of the 19th century the church was in a poor state of repair. Sir Woolmer White and Sir Alfred Jodrell plus others funded repairs. The restoration was sympathetically done.