IF these stunning views are anything to go by, it’s no surprise St Mary’s Church, in Dedham, had a staggering 25,000 visitors, from home and abroad, last year.

The views extend over the glorious landscape that inspired artist John Constable and the quintessentially English street scene of Dedham village.

On a clear day they reach over the River Stour to Felixstowe, about 20 miles away as the crow flies.

The churchyard also has some famous residents.

They include Tom Keating, art restorer and art forger, who claimed to have faked more than 2,000 paintings by more than 100 different artists.

Keating's last painting the Angel of Dedham, is in the Muniment Library of the church. He died aged 66 in 1984.

Mary Whitehouse, Ardleigh’s fiesty clean-up campaigner, who died aged 91 in 2000, is also buried there.

There has been a church in Dedham since at least 1322, when services were held in a smaller church on the site of its existing south aisle chapel. The archway to the present vicar’s vestry is thought to have been the entrance to that church.

The church was dedicated St Mary the Virgin in 1492 when the present building was begun. Its tower stands at 131ft and was completed in 1519.

Until January, the church had been led by the Rev Gerard Moate for two decades. He decided it was time to leave the parish following the death of his wife, Margarita, from cancer.

Mr Moate worked to restore the church’s muniment archive, the chancel of the late 15th century building and the nearby Assembly Rooms.

While Mr Moate’s replacement is found, retired ministers Paul Southern and Mervyn McKinney are leading services.

Church tower tours are available during the summer months.

There are more than 300 steps up to the tower which become increasingly narrow.

For more information, visit for dedhamchurchtowertours.co.uk