Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary, formerly known as St Mary's Church, is the parish church of South Stoneham and serves the village of Swaythling. The chancel dates from the 12th century, the nave from the 13th century, the north transept was added in 1728, and the south transept was built in the 1850s by G. Guillaume. The west tower, which features small double uncusped belfry lights, is from the late 15th or early 16th century and has a later battlemented parapet and a 19th-century west doorway. The church is constructed of stone rubble and has a tiled roof.

Inside, there is a notable late 12th-century chalk chancel arch, a piscina in the north chancel wall, and a late 12th-century Purbeck marble font with a square bowl that has incised arcading on the sides, supported by later clustered shafts. The church also houses a good collection of monuments, including a tomb from around 1540 in the chancel, a wall monument to Edmund Clarke who died in 1632, and a large baroque monument to Edward Dummer, the builder of South Stoneham House, which is attributed to Hawksmoor. There are late 18th-century and early 19th-century wall tablets in the nave. The churchyard features 18th-century headstones adorned with cherubs, skulls, heavenly crowns, trumpet urns, hourglasses, and floral motifs, as well as 19th-century oval body stones and chest tombs.