Church Of St Mary

Church of St. Mary, Everdon

This is a Grade I listed church situated on the south side of Everdon High Street. The building dates from the early 14th century and was restored around 1860 and again in 1891–92 by the architects Bodley and Garner.

The church is constructed of coursed squared ironstone and ironstone ashlar with some limestone dressings, and has lead roofs. It comprises a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a west tower.

The chancel is three bays long and contains a 19th-century five-light Perpendicular-style window. To the south are two-light windows with Y-tracery, and two similar windows occupy the north side. A 19th-century vestry extends to the north-east. The nave features a clerestory with four two-light Perpendicular windows with segmental heads on both north and south sides.

The north aisle has three-light windows with reticulated tracery to the east and west, with one window to the west of the porch and two to the east. The north door is many-moulded with three orders of shafts and foliage capitals on the left and plain shafts on the right, set within a gabled north porch with a double-chamfered doorway. One-light cusped windows flank the porch to east and west.

The south aisle contains four-light windows with Curvilinear tracery flanking the porch at the east end, and a three-light window with reticulated tracery to the west. The south door features a many-moulded arch decorated with fleurons innermost, then ballflower and a stem with leaves suggesting trailing vine outermost. It has three shafts with foliage capitals and is topped by a crocketed ogee hood mould with finial. The south porch has a chamfered and shallow hollow-chamfered doorway, with the inner arch resting on polygonal capitals and responds. One-light blocked windows sit to the east and west. A sundial is positioned above the doorway.

The three-stage west tower contains a two-light Decorated window (renewed) and small one-light cusped windows to the north, south and west. Two-light Decorated bell-openings open to the west. The tower and south aisle have diagonal buttresses, and buttresses are positioned between the bays of the chancel and aisles, all with off-set bases. Stone coped parapets run throughout the building, except for the north porch which is stone-coped only. The tower has renewed pyramidal pinnacles at each corner. Windows throughout have hood moulds, many with finely carved head label stops.

The interior contains notable features in the chancel, including a three-bay sedilia with cusped ogee heads and crocheted hood moulds, a many-cusped tomb recess to the north-east, and a chamfered priest's door to the north. The chancel roof, choir stalls, and organ case date from 1891–92 by Bodley and Garner. The chancel arch features a double wave-moulded arch with the innermost resting on polygonal responds. A 14th-century rood screen is present.

The nave has four-bay arcades with sunk chamfered arches on circular moulded capitals and circular piers with wide fillets. The roof is a tie beam roof of 1755. Piscinas are located at the east end of the north aisle (south side) and the south-east end of the south aisle.

The octagonal font is of 13th-century Purbeck marble with two blank pointed arches to the east side, set on a renewed stem with colonettes. It is topped by a 19th-century timber cover with ogee volutes supporting a finial. A 17th-century communion table stands in the south aisle. The pulpit is octagonal, dating from 1808, with a base of 1892. Royal Arms of George III (oil on canvas), a painted Charity Board, and a funeral hatchment are housed in the tower. A west gallery of uncertain date was much renewed in 1892, with a staircase with turned balusters providing access to the roof.

Glazing is mostly clear glass with many old crown glass quarries. Medieval stained glass fragments include a Pelican in her Piety in the north-west nave window and a deer in the south aisle. The chancel east window (1906), the south aisle east window (1921), and other south aisle windows are by Burlison and Grylls.

A wall monument to Thomas and Dorothy Spencer, erected in 1606, is of alabaster with English marble columns with Corinthian capitals framing the inscription. Brasses date to 1613 (Adam Robyns) and 1605 (Timothy Dod).