Church Of Saint Mary

The Church of Saint Mary is a Grade II* listed building located in Longdon Village. The church features a west tower dating from around 1300, a nave constructed in 1787 by William Marshall, and a chancel built in 1868 by Rev A C Lefrey. The tower is made of blue lias stone and consists of three stages, with Y tracery single bell openings, a stair turret on the north side, and a recessed octagonal spire topped with corner pinnacles. Inside, there is a moulded tower arch leading to the nave.

The nave is rendered and lined to resemble ashlar, with ashlar dressings on the south side and a low-pitched slate roof. It has a stone plinth, quoins at the angles, a projecting centre bay, a cornice, a parapet over the centre bay, and coping. The nave features stone surrounds to a central Venetian window and two large arched windows, all with leaded lights. The rear wall is painted brick. The south porch, constructed in 1868 from blue lias stone and topped with a slate roof, has a Neo-Norman south door. The chancel, also made of blue lias stone, is apsed and has a slate roof, with one south window and five apse windows.

Inside the nave, there are Ionic half-columns on pedestals flanking the centre Venetian window on the south side, with a corresponding recess opposite. The nave has a moulded plaster cornice and an impost band around the central window and recess. The chancel features a Neo-Norman chancel arch and furnishings. Notable interior elements include a brass memorial to W Bridges, who died in 1523, and his wife, as well as a wall monument to the Parket family, created by W Stephens around 1794. The nave also contains a late 18th-century pulpit with a tester and stained glass windows, including five from around 1875 and a central apse window from around 1945 by Powells.