Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church located in Marden, with origins dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. It underwent significant rebuilding of the nave in 1858 by T Nicholson. The church is constructed from coursed sandstone rubble, with dressed ashlar used for the tower. The roofs of the nave and aisles are slate, while the chancel roof is made of stone slate. The north-west tower, built in the 14th century, features an aisled nave with four bays, a sanctus bellcote, and a two-bay chancel with a polygonal east end, along with a 19th-century south porch.

The north-west tower consists of three stages and has angle buttresses at the north-west and north-east corners. It includes 2-light openings with ogee heads in the bell chamber, a recessed stone spire, and a plain parapet adorned with pyramidal corner pinnacles. Entry is from the east through a low 2-centred arch leading to a 19th-century ledged door. The east side shows scars from a demolished north porch. The nave, largely rebuilt by Nicholson in the Decorated Style, features 3- and 2-light windows with Bath stone details, along with three 19th-century quatrefoiled clerestory lights on both the north and south sides. The east end of the south aisle has a 2-light ogee window, likely from the 14th century. A restored 13th-century south doorway has been reset behind the south porch. The chancel includes trefoiled 2-light windows with cinquefoils above, a priests' door on the south side, and buttresses at each angle.

Inside, the north arcade is supported by circular piers and capitals, while the south arcade features octagonal piers. The chancel arch is double chamfered and 2-centred, with scars indicating the presence of a rood screen in the jambs and a squint on each side. The nave roof, dating from the 19th century, consists of collar trusses made from thin scantling. The chancel roof features three king-post trusses, possibly also from the 19th century. A low piscina with a trefoil head is set very low. The church has a 13th or 14th-century dodecagonal font, each face adorned with a trefoiled panel and an octagonal base with a restored shaft. There is a late 19th-century stone pulpit supported by marble columns on a cluster of four heavy keel-moulded shafts. Notable monuments include a brass for Margate Chute from 1614 and a marble aedicule for Philibert Burghill, who died in 1653, both located on the north wall of the chancel. On the east wall, there is an aedicule with a broken pediment and Ionic pilasters dedicated to Sara Unett, who died in 1732.