Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building located on West Bergholt Hall Road. It features a nave with a west bell-turret, a chancel, a south aisle, and a south porch. Although the church is no longer in regular use, it remains consecrated. The nave is constructed from indurated conglomerate, which was locally sourced, and its north wall dates back to around 1000 AD, as confirmed by excavation. Originally, the church had an apsidal east end, which was later changed to the current square-ended chancel. The south aisle and its three-bay arcade were added in the 14th century, and the chancel was extended eastward around 1300, featuring Y-tracery side windows, while the south aisle windows are curvilinear. The walls incorporate numerous early Romanesque carved stones that have been reused. The roofs of the building are all ridged, gabled, and covered with peg tiles, including the timber south porch, which has a red brick plinth. Excavations indicate that the west end was originally timber, and materials from this structure were repurposed in the existing belfry, which consists of two medieval builds.

Inside, the nave features massive tie beams supporting a canted roof, which is plastered, as is the chancel roof. There is a gallery at the west end supported by two Ionic columns, with a three-bay panelled front rail above an entablature adorned with triglyphs. The south aisle includes a trefoiled piscina at its southeast return. The font has a square stem and a cylindrical bowl, and there is a large ironbound chest with six hinges on its two lids.