Church of St. Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a Grade II* listed building located in Hamstead Marshall. It dates back to the 14th century, with a 15th-century north aisle and a 17th-century tower that was altered in the early 17th century. The church is constructed of flint with stone and brick dressings, featuring a brick tower and plain tiled roofs. It includes elements made from tufa, Sarsen stone, Bath stone, and Caen stone. The layout comprises a nave, chancel, tower, north aisle, and south porch.

The three-stage tower is marked by brick bands and has corner buttresses at the first stage, with a two-light louvre in the upper stages. The top stage features a sundial on the south face and a crenellated parapet. The west door, added in the 19th century, is also notable.

On the south elevation, there is a two-light 19th-century window to the left, and a gabled south porch dated 1893 above a round-arched entry. The nave has one-light and two-light windows, while the chancel features two two-light windows, all with square heads and label moulds. The east elevation shows a former east window to the chancel that has been blocked with flint and tiled bands, alongside a three-light east window to the aisle with a depressed arched head and Perpendicular tracery. The north wall contains two two-light Perpendicular windows with label moulds and carved heads at the springers.

Inside, all walls are plastered and painted. The chancel has a boarded ceiling with a moulded central beam, a wooden reredos with thin columns and a plain panelled frieze, and thin carved cornices. The depressed chancel arch retains remains of a rood loft and a stair to the north supported on carved stone corbels. The 17th-century altar rails feature heavy turned balusters. The nave has two wide depressed arches leading to the north aisle, supported by grouped columns at the east and west and an octagonal pier in the centre. The roof has four bays with arch-braced collars and butt purlins, while a queen post truss at the junction with the chancel indicates a former flat ceiling. There are 18th-century box pews and a 17th-century carved three-decker pulpit with a canopy and back board. An organ is located on a gallery at the west end, supported by four Tuscan columns. Additionally, there is a memorial stone in the floor to Sir Balthazar Gerbier, the architect of Hamstead Lodge, and a plain octagonal stone font.