Church Of St Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church located in Drayton Beauchamp. It primarily dates from the 15th century but incorporates materials from the 13th and 14th centuries and underwent restoration in the 19th century. The church is constructed from flint with clunch blocks arranged in a chequer pattern on the tower, and features later limestone dressings along with bands of ironstone alternating with clunch ashlar on the chancel. The roofs are made of lead.

The structure includes a west tower, an aisled nave with a clerestory, a north porch, and a chancel, all topped with battlemented parapets. The windows are mainly square-headed, with three-light designs and hoodmoulds in the clerestory from the 16th century, and cusped lights in the belfry and aisle windows from the 15th century. The chancel features four-centred arched windows with cusped lights, and a five-light square-headed east window.

Inside, the church has a four-bay arcaded nave, and the east window of the south aisle has a sill decorated with a frieze of quatrefoils and shields. The timber roofs date from the 15th century. Notable fittings include a 12th-century tub font with arcading and old seats at the west end of the nave. The east window contains original 15th-century stained glass depicting ten Apostles, while the north window of the chancel features a panel of 15th-century stained glass.

There are also brasses in the chancel commemorating two knights from the 14th century and a priest from 1531. A significant monument in the chancel is dedicated to Lord and Lady Newhaven, who died in 1728 and 1732, created by William Woodman the Elder, noted as "one of the most outstanding monuments in England." This monument features a reredos background with Corinthian columns and an open scrolled pediment, showcasing a semi-reclining figure on a grey sarcophagus against a grey obelisk. To the right of the white base of the monument is a seated figure of Lady Newhaven, and to the left is a coronet on a cushion.