Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a church built between 1934 and 1935 by the architects Welch, Cachemaille-Day, and Lander. It features a concrete rendered exterior with brick dressings and a plain tile roof. The church has a five-bay nave and a four-bay north aisle, which includes a porch at the west end. The sanctuary consists of three bays below a tower, and there is a one and a half-storey, two-bay vestry with a flat roof at the northeast corner.

The windows are characterized by steeply-pointed curved heads with intersecting tracery, while the doors also have curved heads and are panelled. The structure includes buttresses and brick verges. The west end is dominated by a steeply-gabled nave with a five-light window. The gabled aisle, set back on the left, features a three-light window and is fronted by a porch with a shallowly-pitched roof. The two-stage tower has a tile offset at the lower level, with a drum at the southeast corner that rises as a vice and includes slit windows and a concrete ribbed bellcote. There is a band below the two-light windows, which are set in concave panels, and a single lancet window at the east end.

Inside, the nave has a barn-like appearance with a pointed arched aisle arcade, corbelled upper crucks, and two tiers of through purlins. The tower is made of ribbed brick, with main ribs springing from flower-decorated brackets. It features pointed arched arcades and a nave arch, along with a balcony below the windows and tubular metal light fittings. The altar rail has squat, spindle-type balusters, and the floors are parquet. The original pulpit and lectern are also present.

This church is one of five built to serve the large London County Council Becontree Estate.