Church Of St Mary The Virgin

Church of St Mary the Virgin

This is a parish church comprising a late 11th-century chancel and nave, with a west tower added in the early 16th century. The building was restored by Wykeham Chancellor in 1869.

The chancel and nave are constructed from exposed coursed lumps of indurated gravel conglomerate with lacing courses of Roman brick, supplemented with some flint rubble. Dressings are of limestone, clunch and Roman brick, and the roof is of machine-made red clay tiles. The west tower is of red brick in English bond. The church is aligned east-north-east to west-south-west and sits in the middle of a high circular churchyard.

The plan consists of a square chancel and a slightly wider nave of double-square proportions. The west tower is of square plan with a contemporary half-octagonal stair turret to the north-east and diagonal buttresses to the north-west and south-west. A 19th-century vestry has been added to the north, constructed of handmade red and blue bricks with lime mortar in Flemish bond and roofed with machine-made red clay tiles. A lean-to extension to the west is of handmade red bricks with cement mortar. A south porch dates from 1869.

The chancel has east quoins of Roman brick. The east wall contains a largely 19th- or 20th-century window except for its 14th-century splays and possibly the chamfered two-centred rear-arch. Above it is an indistinct brick arch, the aperture now blocked with tiles. The gable contains much handmade brick of uncertain date. The north wall has a window that is entirely 19th-century except for its 14th-century splays and chamfered segmental-pointed rear-arch. The south wall has two windows, both 19th-century except for 15th-century splays and a depressed pedimental rear-arch. Between them is a late 15th-century doorway with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head (with minor repair) and a moulded label; the rubble adjacent to it is patched with 16th- or 17th-century brick. The chancel-arch is 19th-century.

The nave has four quoins of Roman brick. In the north wall are two windows; the eastern is round-headed and dates from the 11th century, much restored and possibly widened, with internal plastering; the western is 19th-century except for its 14th-century splays and chamfered, almost semicircular rear-arch. Further west is an 11th-century window, round-headed with voussoirs of stone and Roman brick, now blocked with 16th- or 17th-century brick. The wall above has been repaired with 16th- or 17th-century brick. East of the windows, the wall has been thickened internally to enclose a rood-stair with stepped tabling above, all plastered. The upper and lower doorways are square-headed and restored. Immediately east of the lower doorway is a shallow recess with chamfered jambs and four-centred head, all plastered. Almost below the blocked window is the 11th-century north doorway, with plain jambs, a restored semicircular arch, and a high semicircular rear-arch. In the south wall are four windows; the easternmost is 19th-century except for its 14th- or 15th-century splays and chamfered segmental-pointed rear-arch. The other three are 11th-century, round-headed, much restored and probably widened, with internal plastering. The south doorway, almost under the third window, is uniform with the north doorway but unrestored except for one stone of the east jamb. A semicircular groove of square section has been cut on the inner face of the voussoirs to receive an iron flange on the head of the door, which is early 18th-century oak in eight fielded panels enclosed by ovolo mouldings with minor repairs. The door retains its original iron-cased lock and wrought-iron ring-handle of diamond section. Both roofs are 19th-century.

The west tower is of red brick with patterns picked out in vitrified black headers. In the south wall, the pattern comprises a diamond extended to form a triangle below and two short horizontal lines within the diamond, probably a symbolic representation of a fish in the vertical position. In the north wall the pattern is indistinct but may represent a Calvary cross with initials. The tower is of three stages with a crenellated parapet projecting on a corbel-table of small two-centred arches and has stepped merlons with restored pinnacles at the corners. On the east side, the central merlon has a chamfered square panel with a cusped circle in moulded brick. On the south side, the central merlon is similarly panelled with a circle and six round holes in moulded brick, possibly matching the east merlon originally; the merlon to the west of it has a blank panel, possibly plastered and painted originally. On the west side, the central merlon is similarly panelled with a six-pointed star. The merlons on the north side are plain. The brick tower-arch is two-centred and of three orders, the innermost chamfered. It has been repaired at the base, with the remainder repointed with cement mortar. The west window has two restored brick two-centred lights under a two-centred head, all chamfered. The second stage has in the north and west walls a plain rectangular loop, and in the south wall a small window with chamfered jambs and three-centred head, possibly a later enlargement of a third loop. The bell-chamber has in the east wall a window of two round-headed lights in a round arch, all chamfered; in the north wall a single chamfered round-headed light in a common outer order; in the south and west walls a window of two chamfered four-centred lights in a common round arch. There are 20th-century repairs to the brickwork at the base, mostly below one metre, and minor repairs elsewhere. The original floor comprises heavy joists of horizontal section and a framed bell-trap.

The interior contains a piscina in the south wall of the nave with a plain round drain and rough arched head, cement-rendered; its date is uncertain. The font is of Caen stone with a square bowl with panelled sides carved with conventional foliage, two stars, whorl, crescent, four small quatrefoils, and two foliated crosses with foliage. The lower edge is moulded and rounded at the angles to take small round shafts. The round stem dates from around 1200, whilst the base and side-shafts are 19th-century. In the south porch is an indent, much eroded, reported earlier to be 15th-century, showing a half-figure of a priest and inscription, and three fragments of coffin-lids. Two of the coffin-lids have remains of crosses and the third has part of a lozenge-cross, all with beaded edges, dating from the 13th century. In the vestry, attached in a swivel-frame, is a brass of Leonard Berners, 1563, and Mary (Gedge) his wife. The male figure is lost except for the left foot in armour, the female figure remains, and there is a scroll. All are palimpsest; the male figure was engraved on part of a fur-lined robe of a secular figure from around 1500, and the female figure on part of a widow in a horned head-dress from around 1460. There are six bells: the first by Robert Mot, 1590, three by John Thornton, 1716, and one by Thomas Mears, 1793. The bell-frame is partly old.

Wykeham Chancellor, who undertook the 1869 restoration, believed that the tower was constructed under the direction of Girolamo de Trevizi, architect of Hampton Court, and that he was concerned also in the tower of Sandon church, the clerestorey of Great Baddow church, and the gatehouse of Layer Marney.