Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is a parish church located in English Bicknor. It dates back to the 12th century, with later medieval alterations and some 19th-century reconstruction. The church is built from sandstone, featuring a clay-tiled roof over the nave and concrete tiles on the rest of the structure. It consists of a nave and clerestory with single-storey aisles, a projecting west tower, and a chancel.

The four-stage tower has a 13th-century base with blocked lancet openings, small rectangular openings above, and a twin-light louvred belfry in the Perpendicular style at the top stage. It is topped with an embattled parapet. The nave and aisles have four window bays, separated by stepped coped buttresses, with simple pointed windows that include twin lancets and a hexagon above. The clerestory features three two-light windows.

Inside, the church has a wagon wheel nave roof, while the aisles are covered with boarded roofs. There is a Norman arcade with five arches on round piers that have sculptured capitals. An elaborate northeast arch, adorned with chevrons and beakheads, is thought to be a re-used south doorway. The pointed arch leading from the nave into the crossing has the eastern bays of the aisles forming small transepts.

The vestry is located in the north transept behind the organ and includes a stone stoup and a column piscina. The south transept houses the Machen Chapel, which contains numerous floor and wall monuments, as well as a carved wooden screen from around 1500 that spans two sides, featuring an altered boarded dado. A 19th-century screen in a similar style divides the nave and crossing. The chancel has a three-light decorated window and a Baroque wall tablet dated 1664. In the north aisle at the west end, there are three 14th-century effigies that are not in their original positions. A plain circular font is situated in the south aisle.