Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an Anglican parish church located in Emborough Village. It dates back to the 12th century, with alterations from the 14th, 18th, and some restoration in the 19th century. The structure is built of coursed and squared rubble with some ashlar and freestone dressings, featuring coped verges and slate roofs. The church consists of a nave, a north aisle, a south porch, a central tower, and a chancel, showcasing both Perpendicular and 18th-century Gothic architectural styles.

The three-stage tower has diagonal buttresses with set-offs, corner pinnacles, and a parapet adorned with pierced cusped lozenges. It includes single-light bell chamber windows and a squat stair turret on the north side. The nave and aisle each have three bays, with 3-light windows featuring plain intersecting tracery, except for a broad single-light window at the west end of the aisle and a 2-light Decorated window with a cusped rere-arch. The church also has sloping buttresses and doorways on the north and south sides, with the south featuring a pedimented 18th-century porch that incorporates a moulded Perpendicular outer door opening and paired panelled inner doors.

The chancel is a single bay with a 2-light Perpendicular window on the south and a 3-light east window with intersecting tracery. Inside, the church has plastered surfaces over flagstone, wood block, tile, and encaustic tile floors. The nave features a plastered wagon roof dating to around 1600, decorated with an interlacing vine frieze, floral motifs, and sunbursts. The aisle ceiling is divided into three sections with cornices, and there is plastered vaulting under the tower, while the chancel has a 19th-century roof.

The arcade to the aisle consists of three plain arches with moulded springers. Notable interior features include a 13th-century tub font, a Jacobean altar table, and good 18th-century fittings such as a west gallery, dado panelling, pulpit, and altar rails. There is also an early 19th-century organ, two 19th-century readers, a chair, and pews. The church contains royal arms and several 17th and 18th-century inscriptions on the floor, many of which are fragmentary and some may be earlier. Additionally, there are six 18th-century wall monuments and a rood stair. The building is currently in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund.