Parish Church Of St Mary

The Parish Church of St Mary, located in Castle Eaton, is primarily from the 13th century with later work by architect William Butterfield. The church features a rubble construction with a stone tile roof. It has a two-stage crenellated west tower and a four-bay nave that includes a gabled 15th-century south porch. The chancel, built in the late 13th century, has three bays. Notably, there is a corbelled belfry over the crossing, topped with a spire and weathervane. The nave contains an early 14th-century window and two restored geometric-type windows, while the chancel windows are plain with slight cusping.

To the north-east, there is a projecting gabled vestry from the 1860s, featuring small two-light cellar or damp proof windows and a reticulated window to the east. The porch is supported by diagonal buttresses and has a niche above; the south door is late Norman, adorned with two slightly carved caps on the nook shafts, a chevron and roll label with pellets, and dragon head stops. The tower, dating from the 15th century, has a high stepped and twice moulded plinth with diagonal outer buttresses, and it features two-light belfry windows with foiled square heads and drips. The pointed west door is complemented by a Perpendicular period window above. The north side of the church has a catslide roof and a plain Norman arched north door.

Inside the porch, there is a large effigy slab of a knight, likely from the mid-14th century, for a brass. The interior has seen some changes, with the north arcade removed and replaced by timber posts, and a wall painting of the Virgin on the east chamfered respond. A notable Jacobean pulpit incorporates part of a 15th-century screen. The tower chamber contains several memorials, the most distinguished being one to Walter Parker, who died in 1664, featuring a swagged oval with two putti supporting arms. The graveyard to the south includes numerous 18th and 19th-century tombstones, several with carved angel heads, two early 19th-century chest tombs, and one moulded unscrolled top of a bale tomb located to the south of the church.