Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building in the Shropshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 March 1968. Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- dark-ember-tallow
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Shropshire
- Constituency
- South Shropshire MP: Stuart Anderson (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 21 March 1968
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Bedstone
- OS grid reference
- SO 368 757
- Coordinates
- 52.37611, -2.92852
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to the 12th century. It was repaired in 1851 and underwent a restoration by Kempson of Hereford in 1879. The church is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, with a timber-framed bellcote and machine tile roofs that have overhanging eaves. The east gable of the chancel and west gable of the nave feature corbelled scissor-bracing, and iron crosses adorn the east gables of both the nave and chancel.
The church consists of a nave with a west bellcote, a chancel, and a north store shed. The bellcote, likely dating from the 17th century though extensively restored in the 19th and 20th centuries, is timber-framed with an oak-shingled broach spire surmounted by a brass weathercock. It features three pointed, louvred windows on each side. The nave has buttresses at the northwest and southwest angles with stone slate caps. Late 19th-century windows on the north and south sides are comprised of four round-headed openings alternating with three similar blind arches and continuous cills. A small 12th-century round-headed window is located on the east side of the south wall. The west end has a late 19th-century round-headed window above a contemporary Romanesque-style doorway with chevron decoration to its arch. The chancel has a small 12th-century round-headed window on the north side and a taller 19th-century round-headed window on the south. The east wall contains late 19th-century round-headed windows to the left and right, with one above centrally. A smaller round-headed window at the apex seems to incorporate some earlier, likely 12th-century, stonework. A C19 lean-to shed on the north side, in the angle with the nave, has a round-headed doorway on its east side and a window on its west side.
The interior features 19th-century trussed rafter roofs with scissor-bracing to both the nave and chancel, and a large tie beam at the west end of the nave supporting the bellcote. The low 12th-century round-headed chancel arch has plain chamfered imposts and deep splays to the windows. A 12th-century tub-shaped font has a plain semicircular band to its centre and a lead lining. A communion table incorporating 18th-century turned balusters from former communion rails bears the initials "EAM" and the date "1721". Other fittings and furnishings are late 19th-century, including four stained glass windows by Kempe in the north wall, commemorating Joseph Henry Brown, rector of Bedstone (1878-99), and the east window (c.1879), commemorating his wife, Annie (died 1872). Two plain, early 19th-century wall memorials are located over the east side of the chancel arch. The 1879 restoration cost approximately £1,200.
Local climate
Church of St Mary receives an average of 850 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 59% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 55% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 46 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 87% of listed buildings. Of these, 26 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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