File:St Mary's church - geograph.org.uk - 1312837.jpg

English: St Mary's church. During excavation of a drainage trench in the 1980s archaeologists discovered that the north wall of St Mary's church > 1312828 was constructed over the grave of a child which was orientated north-south, an indication that it most likely dates from pre-Christian time, and also that an earlier church once stood on this site, possibly within an already existing burial ground. The 14th century chantry chapel > 1312852 that was added on to the church in the north seems to have been destroyed during the Reformation. In 1761 the church was damaged by lightning strike and the damage was almost totally repaired in brick, the most obvious part of the pre-1761 structure being the west wall > 1312839 and possibly part of the south wall. The church is recorded to never have had a tower but a steeple instead. The present wooden tower > 1312835 dates from the late 18th century. The church roof has always been thatched. The church interior > 1312856 - 1312871 is almost entirely 18th and 19th century but the original C14 font > 1312873 remains. In the surrounding churchyard > 1312819 the plants and wildlife have been protected and catalogued by parishioners since the 1980s, and the churchyard was officially declared a conservation area by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust in 1988. The church is open every day. See also: http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/sisland/sisland.htm