Remains Of Old Church Of St Mary And All Saints

The remains of the Old Church of St Mary and All Saints are located in Thundridge. The structure consists of a 15th-century tower, which is the only part that remains after the church was demolished in 1853. The tower features a 12th-century doorway and a 14th-century window that have been set into the blocking of the tower arch. It is constructed from flint rubble with stone dressings and has clunch moulded frames around its openings. The roof is covered by a concrete slab at the former parapet level.

The tower is a tall, three-stage square structure with diagonal buttresses at the west corners. Inside, there is a spiral staircase that rises in the southwest corner. The west front of the tower has weathered string courses at each level, a sloped plinth, and a protecting string course just above it. Above the contemporary west door, which has a four-centred depressed head, is a three-light cusped window from the 15th century. The door features hollow moulded jambs, spandrels, a square surround, and a moulded label with grotesque heads as stops.

The middle stage has a pointed loop, while the bell stage has two-light traceried openings on each face. Large oval cast-iron tie plates are present at two levels on the side walls. There is a chevron and dogtooth moulded arch with a two-light square-headed, ogee traceried window that includes ferramenta and a label with carved headstops in the blocking of the equilateral 15th-century tower arch, which has hollow moulded imposts. Inside the tower, there is a frame for a hatchment fixed high up. On the south face of the tower, there is a quatrefoil in a circle stone dial, along with a stone slab dial fixed higher up on the same face. Surrounding the churchyard are numerous carved 18th-century gravestones, along with a 17th and 18th-century brick wall.