Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building in the North Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 May 1968. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- inner-truss-ebony
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- North Hertfordshire
- Constituency
- North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 May 1968
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Ashanger Lane, Clothall
- OS grid reference
- TL 270 320
- Coordinates
- 51.97218, -0.15113
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a parish church with origins dating back to the 12th century, featuring a nave from that period. The south chapel was added in the mid-14th century, followed by the chancel and southwest tower, both constructed in the later 14th century. Most of the windows are from the 15th century. The church is built of flint rubble, with some sections in red brick and cement render, and has stone dressings. The chapel has a slate roof, while the tower is topped with a pyramid-shaped plain tile roof.
The tower consists of two stages, with the lower stage functioning as a porch that has a deeply splayed hooded door and deep stepped buttresses. The belfry features a single hooded trefoiled light. The south chapel includes a single 14th-century window and a two-light window on the south side, along with a three-light restored window on the east. The chancel has two restored 15th-century windows on the south wall and a blocked 14th-century door, with the east window being a three-light 15th-century design without cusps. A late 19th-century vestry was added to the north side. The north wall of the nave has one restored and one original 15th-century window, along with 17th-century red brick buttresses and a two-light 15th-century window on the west.
Inside, there is an original 14th-century south door with a wave-moulded surround. The nave is aisle-less and features a low-pitched crown post roof from the 15th century. The arch leading to the south chapel has triple canted shafts, and there is a later 14th-century hooded and cinquefoiled piscina. The chapel roof has two bays from the 14th century. The chancel contains a restored arch from the 14th century and a mid-14th-century trefoiled piscina. The east window showcases good re-set 15th-century medallioned glass with painted birds in the diamond panes. At the west end of the nave, there is a 12th-century table-top font with a 17th-century wooden font cover. The chancel also features brasses commemorating an early 16th-century priest, John Vynter (who died in 1404), and John Wright (who died in 1519), both of whom served as Rectors of Clothall.
Local climate
Church of St Mary sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 90% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 79% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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