The historic parish church of Hellesdon is away from the vast, familiar Hellesdon housing estate on the other side of the Drayton Road. It is in the settlement of Lower Hellesdon beyond the former Hellesdon Hospital, which preserves something of its former rural character despite its proximity to both the Hellesdon estate and modern Costessey. Sam Mortlock described St Mary as small but tall for its size, which is exactly right. The leaded spirelet sits above the western end of the nave, and the two-storey vaulted 14th Century porch seems even larger than it would against a squatter church. The chantry chapel built on in the 14th century to the north side of the elegant chancel is a curious structure which does not marry well with the rest of the building.

I went back into the porch, and tried the door. Locked. A sign on the notice board declared thou shalt not smoke in this place, it transgresseth ye law. Unfortunately, there wasn't a matching sign reading thou art thoroughly welcome to enter into this place or even one that said the key resteth across the road and thou mayest pick it up there at thy pleasure. This was a pity, and, although the humour of the sign did make me think that the natives might be friendly, the door remained resolutely locked. There was no suggestion that pilgrims and strangers might be able to take a look inside. There was an address for the Vicar, but he was back at Hellesdon St Paul a couple of miles off, and as I was on my bike with plans to visit Costessey's churches next, I resisted the temptation.

What did I miss? St Mary has a couple of interesting brasses, and even though the chantry chapel now houses the organ it retains a most unusual screen. So, I will have to go back. In the mean time, I wandered around the graveyard and found a couple of curiosities. One is a 1930s asymmetrical Art Deco headstone in marble featuring an elegant windmill. The other is a great oddity, an 1888 pressed galvanised iron gravemarker in a wrought iron frame. It is to Maria and Stephen Whitewood, and it is dated simply 1888. According to the register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Maria Whitewood died in Norwich in 1888 at the age of 84. A Stephen Whitewood had died in Norwich at the age of 87 some 11 years earlier. They don't appear to be on the 1871 census. They were probably husband and wife, but if so then their marriage appears to have been before universal civil registration began.