Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building located on Church Lane in Bebington. It dates from the late 13th century to the early 14th century, with the north chapel and aisles added in the 15th century. The church underwent significant restoration in the 1870s by D. Walker. It is constructed of stone and features tile roofs with fishscale bands.

The church has a nave with gabled aisles, a west tower, a chancel, a north chapel, and a south vestry. The nave is four bays long and has aisles with a cornice and parapet, featuring three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery, mostly from the 19th century. The clerestory has single lights, while the west end includes two-light windows for the aisles. The tower is supported by deep diagonal buttresses with stepped-weathered heads and includes a west two-light window, a small door to the north, and a bell stage with louvred Y-tracery windows. The broach spire is notable for its unusual gable pinnacles and three tiers of lucarnes.

The south aisle features a gabled porch with an entrance that has an elliptical head. The vestry to the south of the aisle has a canted end and a three-light window, with an entrance at the east angle and a four-light east window. The chancel contains a five-light window with reticulated tracery and two two-light windows on the south side. The chapel has a five-light window, and a buttress between the chapel and chancel features a statue of the Virgin and Child in a canopied niche. The north side of the chapel has four bays with a three-light window.

Inside, the nave has arcades on octagonal piers and a 19th-century timber arch-braced roof. The font located at the base of the tower is round with a band around the shaft. The royal arms date from 1772. There is notable stained glass by C.E. Kempe in the north aisle, clerestory, west end of the south aisle, and tower, created between 1888 and 1890. The chancel features an alabaster reredos and a four-bay arcade leading to the chapel, along with a south organ loft. The south window and dormer windows were designed by E. Frampton in 1888 and 1890, while the east window dates from 1871. The chapel includes a timber screen.

To the left of the altar, there is a table tomb for Charlotte Stanley, who died in 1662, and Sir Rowland Stanley, who died in 1613, featuring an incised slab and brass plate. To the right of the altar is the tomb chest of Sir William Stanley, who died in 1612, adorned with tapering Ionic columns and an incised slab. The screen to the organ loft features three armorial panels from around 1520, originally from the Poole Family Pew.