St Gregory's Church

St Gregory's is Sudbury's most historic church, founded in the fourteenth century by Simon of Sudbury — the Archbishop of Canterbury who famously met his end in the Peasants' Revolt. The building is an important example of Perpendicular Gothic with some striking medieval details, including a fine carved font.

The church is usually open for visitors during daylight hours. The mummified head of Simon of Sudbury, which has been kept here since the Revolt of 1381, is the most remarkable artefact — though it is kept in a wooden cabinet and only occasionally displayed. The church sits in a quiet corner of the town, a short walk west from Market Hill.

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St Gregory's houses one of the strangest relics in English ecclesiastical history: a head in a wooden box, believed to be that of Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was dragged from the Tower of London and beheaded by Wat Tyler's rebels during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. His body is buried at Canterbury Cathedral; his head was brought back to his birthplace and has been in this church ever since, the oldest surviving mummified head in England.

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