Church Of St Stephen

The Church of St Stephen is an Anglican parish church located in Beechingstoke. It is likely of late medieval origin, with significant work completed in 1693 on the nave, in 1791 on the chancel, and extensive restoration carried out between 1861 and 1869 by S.B. Gabriel of Bristol. The church is constructed of malmstone with limestone ashlar, featuring ashlar quoins, a plinth, and eaves, topped with a stone slate roof.

The building consists of a short nave, a chancel, and a south porch. It has square-headed windows, with the tracery replaced in 1861 by pointed lights with quatrefoil heads. The west end has two pointed-headed windows linked by hoodmoulding, with a rose window above. The south porch features a narrow, twice chamfered arch and a medieval chamfered inner doorway, while a corresponding door on the north side is blocked. A gabled bellcote houses twin 17th-century bells and an iron wind vane. The south door to the chancel has a Tudor-shaped head and bears the incised date of 1791, attributed to Charles Mayo, the rector at the time. Various graffiti on the quoining dates back to 1717, 1709, and 1727, and two mass dials have been reset on the north side. A datestone on the east gable of the nave reads 1693, and there is a benchmark on the northeast angle of the chancel.

Inside, the nave has three bays and features an open arch-braced collar roof supported by stone corbels. The chancel arch, dating from the 14th century, spans the full width of the chancel, which has a scissor-framed roof. There is a credence shelf in a niche on the north side, along with painted inscriptions above the chancel arch and beneath the east window. The floors are tiled, with three steps leading to the altar. The stained glass was created by Wailes and Powell in 1848.

Notable fittings include a limestone pulpit with arcading and marble colonettes, accessed by three steps from the chancel, and a white limestone font from 1861, featuring a carved octagonal bowl on Purbeck columns surrounding a central stem. The chancel contains three wall tablets as monuments: a gabled white marble tablet on black commemorates Rev John Mayo, who died in 1779, while the south side features white marble tablets with shaped tops dedicated to Ann Sanders, who died in 1798, Jane Mayo, who died in 1802, and Barbara Mayo, who died in 1796. Additionally, there is a small early 18th-century oak chest.