Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed building located in Little Hallingbury. The church features walls made of flint rubble, mixed with some tile and Roman brick. The roofs of the 12th century nave, 12th to 13th century chancel, 14th century porch, and 19th century vestry are covered with plain red tiles. The bell turret, rebuilt in the 19th century, has a timber-framed and plastered base topped with an octagonal shingle spire. The 19th century north aisle is clad in treated stainless steel, similar to that used on the Thomas Flood Barrage.

The south porch, constructed in the late 14th century, is made of timber and features unusual side tracery with squashed ogees and circles, along with original bargeboards on the gable. The south doorway, dating from the 12th century, is made of Roman brick with a tympanum infilled with rubble, supported by a crenellated and moulded beam. The 14th century door has four panels with cinquefoil heads.

Inside, the nave includes a modern north arcade. Of the three windows on the south wall, the easternmost is a 13th century lancet, while the other two show work from the 14th and 19th centuries. West of the south doorway is a blocked 12th century window made of Roman brick. The chancel walls may date from the same 12th century period as the nave but were lengthened or possibly rebuilt in the 13th century. It features an early 16th century roof with a moulded wall plate carved with running foliage, three main single hammerbeam frames, and shields. The common couples between the frames are braced to their collars, forming depressed arches, with the collars being weakly cranked.

The nave roof has a reconstructed octagonal crown post with a moulded base and capital, along with a 15th century moulded tie beam featuring curved braces and a wall plate. In the chancel, there is a 13th century piscina with stopped and moulded jambs and a trefoiled head, as well as a niche in the south wall with a moulded shelf and a spread trefoiled head topped with horizontal moulding.