The church sits beside a wood, on a hill above the narrow road.
St Catherine is kept open all the time which would be nice if all parish churches were. St Catherine is pretty much what a remote village church should be.
The tower here is certainly quite something. It is that unusual thing for Suffolk - a square Norman tower, with very little alteration since. Looking back at the south side of the church, you will see the roof beams protruded and tied and braced to the outside of the wall by huge wooden pegs. Generally, the exterior of the church has been patched up rather than rebuilt, with massive brick buttresses on the north side, although the porch is Richard Phipson's.
It is clearly ancient, but entirely refurbished by Richard Phipson in 1878. There are no major monuments or significant medieval liturgical survivals, but it is open; not for tourists then, but as a church open for prayer, or even just for the special silence of an ancient place. It is dim inside without being gloomy, and a bit damp, making an organic transition between graveyard and church.
The village of Ringshall is a surprisingly large and suburban place, but a mile or two distant. You'd never know it was nearby, not least because of the way the ridges and hills around here cluster and conspire to hide the landscape. As with virtually all parish churches, money was lavished here in the late 19th Century, and a lot of it was spent on stained glass. Not all of it is very good - some of it is not good at all, but again here is a perfect example of the late Victorian imagination. The glass is by Clayton & Bell, and dates from the late 1870s. It is clustered in the chancel around the sanctuary. The best of it is in the east window, depicting the Resurrection and the noli me tangere, when Mary Magdalene finds the Risen Christ walking in the garden. Less good are the familiar pairing of the Good Shepherd and Light of the World in the south side of the chancel: Christ has been given the curly hair and beard familiar from late Medieval iconography, but the Light of the World in particular is very poorly done. But that doesn't matter, this is a lovely and valuable statement of 19th century rural priorities, and is endearingly rustic because of it. Look for the little angels in the upper lights.
There is a13th century Purbeck marble font more familar from the East of Suffolk, supported here on pretty Victorian pillars.
The roof beams look original but the hammerbeams that support them were all replaced in the 1870s. They look low enough for you to hit your head on. Unusually, there is what appears to be a piscina set in the east wall of the sanctuary, behind the altar. Why it is here and not in the south wall as usual is a mystery.
Up in the sanctuary hangs the standard of 74(F) Squadron Royal Air Force. It was put here in 1992, to remain until it turns to dust.
All info is courtesy of Simon Knott who has an excellent website with so much info on Suffolk churches www.suffolkchurches.co.uk.
The cache is not situated in the churchyard but on a footpath that runs alongside it.
If anyone would like to expand this Church Micro numbered series please do. Please contact sadexploration via this website, so that he can keep track of the church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
****Well done to TIGERTHUMBS for being FTF****