Parish Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, built in 1872 by Thomas Henry Watson, is a notable example of Victorian architecture. It is constructed from random Godalming stone, featuring bonding courses of three layers of red clay tiles at irregular intervals, with limestone dressings. The interior is plastered, and the roof is covered with late 19th-century red clay plain tiles.

The church includes a chancel with a semi-octagonal apse, two transepts, a nave with two aisles, and a south porch. There are also a choir vestry to the north of the chancel and a vicar's vestry to the south, all built at the same time. Most windows have 2-centred arches and 2-centred tracery, except where noted. The chancel features three windows with 2-centred arches, each containing two 2-centred lights separated by a round shaft and topped with a trefoil. The lower walls of the chancel are lined with carved oak panelling.

The chancel arch is also 2-centred. The arcades consist of four bays with 2-centred arches supported by round piers, each adorned with carved capitals showcasing unique naturalistic floral and foliate designs, crafted by an unknown carver between 1872 and 1886. The clerestory windows display trefoils, quatrefoils, and a cinquefoil on the exterior, while the interior features double lights with 2-centred arches and a round light above.

The south doorway has a 2-centred arch with Mannerist rusticated jambs, and the stonework on the outside is left unfinished where carved detail might typically be found. The choir vestry has a timber dormer on the east side with four ogee-headed lights, which are leaded.

The chancel roof is of high quality, featuring arched ribs that converge at arch-braced collar-trusses. The nave roof consists of seven exposed timber cants, while the north transept has six exposed timber cants; the south transept is presumed to be similar but is not visible. The pulpit is made of limestone with naturalistic floral carvings, and the font is a plain round marble structure. The construction details are fully documented in K. A. Vine's work, 'The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Loughton, a short history,' published in 1967, with a copy available in the Essex Record Office.