Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Ellenhall

This small rural aisleless church stands adjacent to the former rectory and Manor Farm, with a scheduled cross shaft in the churchyard.

The building has 12th-century origins, evidenced by part of the north wall of the chancel and a window of that date. The chancel was largely rebuilt in 1683, while the west tower and nave date to approximately 1757 and were designed by William Baker. A substantial restoration took place in 1885–1886 by Lyneham, which included a new porch, new windows to the nave with new brick buttresses, re-roofing of the chancel, and exposure of the nave roof.

The church comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, southwest porch, and northeast vestry. The chancel is constructed in ashlar masonry, while the nave and tower are built in Flemish bond red brick with tiled roofs.

Externally, the chancel features angle buttresses. The south side is blind with a blocked round-headed doorway. A carved inscription on the south side records the date of 1683 with the names Anna and Jonathan Cope, followed by initials and the word 'Freemason'. A 3-light Perpendicular-style traceried east window lights the chancel. The plinth design on the north side suggests the east wall was rebuilt along with the south and part of the north wall in 1683. The northeast vestry has a gabled roof set at right angles to the chancel, with a 2-light Decorated-style traceried north window. The nave has 1880s brick buttresses with set-offs and 1880s square-headed windows with cusped lights and hoodmoulds. The west tower is a 3-stage unbuttressed structure with moulded strings above the west window and below an embattled parapet. The original 1757 tower openings include quatrefoil windows to the west face and plain arched Gothick belfry windows; the south and east windows have later clock faces. The 1880s west window is of crank-arched form with cusped lights. The late 19th-century brick porch has diagonal buttresses, a coped gable with kneelers, and a crank-arched roll-moulded outer doorway.

Internally, the walls are unplastered. The north wall of the nave retains a small round-headed deeply-splayed 12th-century window that now opens into the vestry. A moulded chancel arch dates to circa 1880. The chancel roof, probably also 1880s, is a boarded wagon roof divided into very small panels, with panels painted over the sanctuary with sacred monograms to form a ceilure. The nave roof probably dates to 1757 and is a tie beam and king post design with straight braces from the king post to the principal rafters. It is said to have been exposed during the 1880s restoration; the short curved braces under the tie beam may date to the 1880s, as does the boarding behind the trusses, which gives the roof a more Gothic character. A tall tower arch, also probably 1880s, separates the nave from the tower. Fittings include a polygonal timber pulpit with carved figures in niches, and a probably 12th-century tub font with tiers of rustic carving. The benches are probably 18th-century, remodelled in the 19th century, with square-headed ends and two panels. Some medieval floor tiles survive in the nave.

During the 1880s restoration, the base of a probably Norman pier was reported below the existing level of the woodblock floor. Local tradition records that the church was largely demolished at the Reformation.

In spite of extensive alterations during the 1880s restoration, the church is outstanding for the combination of its 12th-century fabric and likely archaeological remains of further 12th-century work below the existing floor; the 17th-century rebuilding of most of the chancel with its recorded inscription; and the Georgian brick tower. The Norman font and medieval floor tiles are fittings of particular interest.