Church of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building located in Great Shefford. It dates back to the 12th century, with alterations made in the 15th century and a roof and south porch added in the 19th century. The church features a tiled roof and is constructed from flint and Ferricrete, with Bath stone dressings. It comprises a nave, a south porch, and a round west tower.

The tower has three stages, with an octagonal top stage from the 15th century that includes a crenellated parapet and windows featuring two-centred arches and Y tracery on four sides. The lower stages are equipped with simple lancet windows. The nave and chancel are simple in design, each having gabled parapets.

On the south elevation, there are two square-headed three-light windows with label moulds on either side of the gabled south porch, which has a recessed two-centred arched door. The chancel includes a large three-light window with cusped intersecting tracery and two lancet windows. The east window is a 19th-century addition, featuring a tall pointed opening with four cinquefoil lights, a transom, and panel tracery.

The north elevation has a central outshut that contains the organ, with three lancets for the chancel. There are also two lancets flanking the north door, which has a two-centred arch with simple chamfers.

Inside, the church has a plastered interior with a simple roof supported by three arched trusses in the chancel, which spring from plain corbels. There is a reset memorial stone on the north wall dedicated to Sir George Browne, who died in 1678. Additional features include a plain piscina with a stone shelf, a late 19th-century stone pulpit, a reset 12th-century font with carved flower and leaf ornament on a 19th-century base, and a reset 15th-century canopied niche in the north wall that includes a 19th-century carving of the Good Shepherd.