St Mary'S House

St Mary's House, Little Oakley

A former parish church, now converted to residential use. Mainly 12th to 15th century, with 19th-century restoration and further work in 1902. Declared redundant in 1973. The building is constructed of septaria and flint rubble, repaired with red brick in various bonds, all plastered, with limestone dressings and a roof of handmade red clay tiles.

The nave dates from the early 12th century. The chancel was built in the mid-14th century and features an original east window of three trefoiled ogee lights with net tracery in a two-centred head with moulded label, restored externally. Above this is a small blocked square-headed opening. The chancel gable is topped with a 14th-century cross, repaired. The north wall of the chancel contains two 14th-century windows: the eastern has one cinquefoiled light with moulded label, while the western has two cinquefoiled ogee lights with flowing tracery in a two-centred head with moulded label. Between them is a blocked window of two square-headed lights with external splays, formerly serving a north vestry and now plastered over externally. A blocked doorway with segmental-pointed head lies east of this. The south wall has two original partly-restored windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head with moulded label; the eastern window's sill forms a seat. Between them is a doorway, restored except for the 14th-century splays and rear-arch, partly covered by a small porch with a 14th-century outer archway featuring wave-moulded jambs and two-centred head with moulded label and grotesque head-stops.

The 14th-century chancel arch is two-centred with two chamfered orders; the responds have attached octagonal shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The seven-canted roof dates from the 14th century and has moulded wallplates. The chancel also contains a 14th-century piscina with shafted and buttressed jambs and cinquefoiled head, topped with a tall crocketed gabled head enclosing blind tracery, flanking pinnacles, and a sexfoiled drain. Two further niches flank the east window, also 14th-century, with shafted and buttressed jambs, canopies with ribbed soffit painted in blue and gold, cinquefoiled gabled and crocketed heads, and crocketed and finialled spires, partly restored. A wooden floor inserted since 1973 leaves these features exposed above and below. The chancel floor contains slabs commemorating Robert Blacksell (1671 or 1674), an unnamed Blacksell (1672), Robert Blacksell (1680 and 1682), and Robert Beale.

The nave has in the north wall a mid-14th-century window of two cinquefoiled lights in a two-centred head with moulded label. Further east is a 15th-century rood-loft stair with a lower doorway having hollow-chamfered jambs and two-centred head. Near the west end is a blocked 14th-century north doorway with double hollow-moulded jambs, two-centred arch and label. The south wall contains two windows: the eastern is 14th-century with two trefoiled ogee lights and tracery in a two-centred head with moulded label; the western is 19th-century. Between them is a blocked early 12th-century window of one round-headed light. West of the windows is the mid-14th-century south doorway, with wave-moulded jambs, two-centred arch and label with defaced head-stops. The original door consists of V-edged boards with strap-hinges, each enlarged to a rectangle near the jamb, and has been restored internally. The nave roof is similar to the chancel roof with restored wallplates and tiebeams. There are four in-pitch skylights in the north pitch and three in the south pitch. The north wall also contains 13th-century floor-tiles incised with geometrical or rose designs.

The west tower is of one stage, partly late 15th-century and partly 19th-century. It has a moulded plinth with cusped panels that formerly contained flint-inlay work, now cement-rendered. The tower-arch has been rebuilt incorporating original material. The west window has three cinquefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a segmental-pointed head with moulded label. The west doorway has moulded jambs and two-centred arch in a square head with moulded label and stops carved with crowned lions; the jambs and arch-mould are carved with square flowers, and the spandrels with shields of arms. Above the label is a range of trefoiled panels with blank shields in alternate panels, partly rendered. The double doors are late 15th-century, of ridged boards with moulded frame and fillets. A 20th-century casement is present in the west gable of the plain pitched roof. The stair-turret door is late 15th-century, carved from a single timber to form a hollow-moulded frame with four-centred head and three hollow-moulded fillets and ridged panels between.

The south porch is 19th or 20th-century, with a re-set 14th-century cinquefoiled window-head in each side wall.