Church of St Mary and All Saints is a Grade I listed building in the Braintree local planning authority area, England. First listed on 1 March 1950. Church.

Church of St Mary and All Saints

WRENN ID
turning-tallow-sunrise
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Braintree
Constituency
Witham MP: Priti Patel (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
1 March 1950
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Mary and All Saints, Church Road, Rivenhall
OS grid reference
TL 828 177
Coordinates
51.82883, 0.65142
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary and All Saints is an Anglican parish church located in Rivenhall. Originally a timber church from the 10th century, it was rebuilt in stone in the late 10th or early 11th century. The chancel was extended in the early 14th century, while the west tower and the west end of the nave were rebuilt in the early 18th century. The church underwent remodeling in 1838 by J A Repton and had alterations made, including the addition of a south porch in 1878. The exterior is constructed of rendered flint and brick with slate roofs.

The church features a nave and chancel, with polygonal corner turrets and parapets that have moulded cornices. The nave is adorned with battlements. There are 2-light Y-tracery windows in the chancel and 3-light intersecting tracery windows in the nave, along with a chancel east window. The render has been partly stripped from the chancel, revealing small round-headed lancets and a blocked window on the north side. The north doorway is double chamfered and dates from around 1300, while the south doorway is from the 15th century. The tall, thin west tower has four stages, polygonal corner turrets, embattled pinnacles, battlements, a 2-light Y-tracery bell-opening, a west window, and a large 2-centre arch west doorway.

Inside, the church features plastered walls and a coved ceiling with transverse ribs. A communion rail from around 1700 is present, along with a late 19th-century pulpit, an eagle lectern, benches, choir stalls, and a font. The organ, built in 1904 by J W Walker, is also located here. The church contains hatchments and the Royal Arms of James II. Notable monuments include a fine marble and alabaster tomb for Ralphe and Elizabeth Wyseman from 1594, featuring kneeling figures and recumbent effigies, as well as other memorials for Thomas Western from 1699, William Western from 1729, Charles Western from 1800, and various 19th-century memorials. The stained glass includes exceptionally fine French glass reassembled in the east window from St Martin at La Chenu, dating from around 1200 and circa 1500, along with fragments of medieval glass in the nave windows.

Local climate

Church of St Mary and All Saints sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 680 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 20 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 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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