Worlingham is a suburb of the fine town of Beccles, and the bypass which takes the road to Yarmouth around the north of the town also bypasses Worlingham, giving it a peace that it has probably not known for several generations.
Worlingham is not without its charms. Principal among them is All Saints, in its pleasantly trim graveyard boiling with trees. The lynch gate onto the road serves as the war memorial and commemorates nine sailors lost at sea - we often forget that, in parishes as close to the sea as this, young men were as likely to sign up for the navy as for the army. Solid trees overhang the path, creating a tunnel effect up to the north porch.
Wandering around to the south side, there is a surprise. The chancel has a south aisle, but the nave doesn't. Somerton and Benhall have something similar, but in general an aisle would have run the full length of the church. Was it unfinished? Not impossible, since it dates from the 14th century, and might have been the victim of the Black Death. More likely, though, it was always meant this way. Tucked away behind it, in the south nave wall, is a recess and tomb chest. Above it, the coat of arms is for the Players of Sotterley Hall. Nearby, a large headstone bears the crest of the Denbighshire Hussars, who were based in the Beccles area during the First World War.
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