Church Of St Mary The Virgin is a Grade I listed building in the Central Bedfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 23 January 1961. A Medieval Church.
Church Of St Mary The Virgin
- WRENN ID
- quartered-slate-rush
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 23 January 1961
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a former parish church that is now redundant. It was built by Sir Robert de Bilhemore, who died around 1361, with a tower added around 1400. The church is constructed from coursed ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings and has clay tile roofs. It consists of a chancel and nave that form a single unit without a structural division, along with a west tower.
The chancel features a three-light east window and two-light windows with pointed-arched heads on the north and south sides, all of which are cinquefoiled. The nave has a two-light window on the north side similar to those in the chancel, and a two-light window on the south side with flowing tracery. There is a blocked pointed-arched door on the north side and a pointed-arched door on the south side, which has a shield above it, surmounted by a pointed-arched image niche.
The west tower has three stages and is supported by four-stage diagonal buttresses on the west side. There is a semi-octagonal stair turret at the southeast corner. The lower stage features a three-light west window similar to the chancel's east window, while the bell stage has two-light windows with pointed-arched heads on each elevation. The tower is topped with an embattled parapet and a low pyramidal roof.
Inside, the chancel contains a brass memorial that reads: "Robert de Bilhemore chivaler qe fist faire ceste eglise de novele gist icy de salme eit merci Amen." There is also a monument in the northeast of the chancel to Benjamin Piggot, who died in 1606, along with his three wives, Mary, Anne, and Bridget, and their children. This monument is made of polychrome marble and features coats of arms and brasses. The church includes a 15th-century octagonal font, a 15th-century rood screen that retains traces of painted decoration, and an original moulded king post roof. Most of the benches are original, with some 20th-century copies. The 17th-century pulpit includes sounding-boards.
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