Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is an Anglican church located in Chesterblade, with origins dating back to the 12th century, and further developments in the 13th and 15th centuries. It was rebuilt in 1888, with additional work completed in 1925. The church is constructed of rubble, with some ashlar and freestone dressings, and features lead roofs and stone tiles on the porch.

Architecturally, the church has a nave with a west bellcote, a south porch, and a chancel, all in the Perpendicular style. The nave consists of three bays and includes a blocked west doorway with a four-centre arch head and a square label, as well as a three-light west window. The ogee bellcote is notable, and the south side has a small two-light window to the right of a large porch, which features a possible 13th-century outer doorway that is double-chamfered with continuous moulding. The inner doorway is from the late 12th century and displays a transitional design with one order of colonnettes, leaf caps, a stilted segmental head, vertical springers, bead moulding, and animal heads. Two Norman corbels are reused to the east of the nave, and the gable face has a small blocked opening, likely for lighting the former rood loft. The north side features a two-light window with a hood mould.

Inside the porch, there are remains of a stoup, stone benches, a 15th-century canopied niche, and a figure thought to be from the 17th century. The interior has plastered walls and flagstone and tile floors. The nave boasts a tie-beam roof restored in 1925, although part of it is from the 17th century, with a central truss inscribed "W.V.R.C. 1663." The low chancel arch consists of two chamfered orders, and remnants of the entrance to the rood can still be seen. A Norman tub font is present, along with a polygonal stone pulpit and a stone reader with arcading that likely dates to the 15th century, though it has been much recut. The chancel features high-quality carved Jacobean panelling, and there are late 19th-century pews. Noteworthy memorials include a good 19th-century brass in a bold moulded marble surround and a similar 20th-century memorial. The stained glass in the east window is dated 1913, and there is a bell believed to date from 1632.