Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade I listed building in the Forest of Dean local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 December 1953. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Mary the Virgin
- WRENN ID
- crumbling-thatch-amber
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Forest of Dean
- Constituency
- Forest of Dean MP: Matt Bishop (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 12 December 1953
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Mary the Virgin, English Bicknor
- OS grid reference
- SO 581 158
- Coordinates
- 51.83934, -2.60913
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
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.
Local climate
Church of St Mary the Virgin receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 55% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 52% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 41 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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