Church Of St Mary, Whitton

The Church of St Mary in Whitton is a parish church with origins dating back to the late 13th century. It was largely rebuilt in the 1850s and enlarged in 1862, with further alterations in the 1880s by F Barnes, including the addition of a south west tower and south aisle. The church is constructed of flint with stone dressings, and has plain tile roofs, some with cresting.

The church comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, a north chapel and vestry, and a south west tower. The south west tower has three stages with a spire, featuring clasping pilasters with bell bases. A circa 1300 doorway is reset on the south face, decorated with a scrollmoulded arch and hood, shafts with undercut mouldings to the caps, and a single light opening to the west face. Further openings are present on the middle stage, and two-light openings with late 13th century plate tracery style are found on the upper stage. The stone spire has a tall lucarne on each face and is topped with a foliate cross. The west window of the nave, dating from the 19th century, has three lights of simple slender tracery.

The south aisle, added in 1862, incorporates remnants of the earlier Church of St Botolph. It features three bays with buttresses, three paired lancet windows, and a quatrefoil on the east gable. The north aisle, also from the 19th century, has a west window of two-light plate tracery and single lancet windows to each bay. The east window has two encircled trefoils beneath an encircled cinquefoil.

Inside the church, a four-bay north arcade is supported by polygonal piers, while a three-bay south arcade features drum piers with polygonal responds. Both arcades have double chamfered arches and moulded caps. The chancel arch has two chamfered orders on polygonal responds with moulded caps. The nave has a canted and boarded roof, possibly the original structure, while the chancel retains a largely 14th-century collar roof with straight braces. Niches flank the east window, possibly original, featuring cusped heads on engaged shafts under a moulded hood. A piscina with a cusped head is also present. A three-bay open arcade runs along the north wall. Morris glass is located in the north-eastern north aisle window. A circular font bowl features a blank arcade on the central drum and four outer shafts. Various fittings, reportedly from Sudbury Church, are present, including benches with halved poppy-head bench ends and cowled figure heads.