Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Forest of Dean local planning authority area, England. First listed on 2 October 1954. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
guardian-balcony-spring
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Forest of Dean
Constituency
Forest of Dean MP: Matt Bishop (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
2 October 1954
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Mary, Upleadon
OS grid reference
SO 768 269
Coordinates
51.94066, -2.33767
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Mary is a parish church with significant fabric from the 12th century, 15th century, and 18th century, and was restored in 1850 and 1879 by Ewan Christian. A vestry was added in 1884. The church is constructed of squared, coursed stone, with a timber-framed tower that is brick nogged and set on a stone plinth. Stone slate roofs cover most of the building, with Welsh slate on the tower. The church comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, south porch, and north vestry.

The north facade features a timber-framed tower with four stages, incorporating close-studded timber framing and brick nogging set on edge. A square opening with louvres is at the top stage, and a four-light mullioned window is on the lowest stage, along with a two-light mullion and transom window on the west face. The nave has a diagonally-set buttress to the right and a double-boarded door with roll moulding and a semi-circular tympanum depicting an agnus dei and two lions. Nook shafts flank the doorway, with scalloped and carved animal capitals, and a chevron-and-cable moulding around the arch. A billet-moulded string course runs along the wall, curving to clear the doorhead. A flat-headed two-light window is positioned centrally above the door, and the north facade is punctuated with lancets at each end. The parapet gables feature an octagonal base on the eastern apex, minute crenellations, a short tapered section, and originally carried a cross. The north vestry features a lancet window, a parapet gable with a cross-gablet apex, and two lancets in the return wall. The chancel’s north wall is plain with a parapet gable and cross-gablet apex displaying a floriate cross.

Inside, the nave walls are plastered, and there is a wide arch to the chancel, supported by short marble columns with corbels. The nave roof is a three-bay structure with king-post trusses, purlins, a plank ridge, and wind braces. Mortices in the tie beams suggest a previous flat, plastered ceiling. The tower base is open to the nave, with curving St Andrew's cross bracing to the walls. The chancel is plastered and features a blind arch to the vestry. A collar rafter roof with arch braces rises from spurs at eaves level. The church houses a 19th-century circular stone font, a 1661-dated panelled timber pulpit on a 19th-century stone base, and wooden communion rails with a trefoil-headed arcade. The early chancel arch was removed during the 1879 restoration, and the chancel is said to have been rebuilt at that time. The nave roof likely dates from before the mid-18th century. The church forms a group with nearby Court and barns.

Local climate

Church of St Mary receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 66% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Cruck Barn at Upleadon Court, to North West of House Grade II* 58 m
  2. Upleadon Court Grade II 64 m
  3. Mill Grade II 103 m
  4. Barn at Middletown Farm Grade II 716 m
  5. Middletown Farmhouse Grade II 730 m
  6. Drew's Farmhouse Grade II 876 m
  7. Barn at Bayton's Farm Grade II 935 m
  8. Stanbrook Farmhouse Grade II 1.2 km
  9. Hill Farm Cottages Grade II 1.2 km
  10. Lower Buttersend Farmhouse Grade II 1.4 km