Church of St Mary the Virgin, Gestingthorpe (EHER 9404)

Mainly 14th century and later parish church, although the chancel is 13th century, incorporating probable Roman tiles in the south wall. Nave, north vestry, south aisle probably 14th century. South aisle rebuilt 15th century. Nave clerestory; south porch and west tower about 1500. Much restoration late 19th century when south organ chamber was added, south arcade of nave reconstructed and chancel arch and adjoining walls rebuilt. Flint rubble built, some walls are rendered. Dressings of limestone and clunch.

Monument description derived from merging EHER 9404, 9405, 9406, 9407, 9408, and 29651. Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Church of St Mary the Virgin. Parish Church. Chancel 13th century. Nave, north vestry, south aisle probably 14th century. South aisle rebuilt 15th century. Nave clerestory, south porch and west tower about 1500. Much restoration late 19th century when south organ chamber was added, south arcade of nave reconstructed and chancel arch and adjoining walls rebuilt. Rood screen rebuilt 1907 with fragments of 15th century one incorporated. 19th century communion rail. Two 19th century stained glass windows. Paintings of Moses and Aaron, probably about 1700. Four bells, 17th century, two other recast 1907. Three tombstones moved from chancel, one of 1691, other contained brasses. East of the church and listed are head and foot stones of 1769; also headstone of 1769 (a pair). RCHM 1. Grade I. <1> Walls are flint rubble with dressings of limestone and clunch, some tiles in the walls are probably Roman. West tower and south porch are red brick; roofs are tile and lead covered. Chancel was built probably in the early 13th century; and nave may be contemporary but the earliest detail is about 1330. The north vestry and south aisle were added about 1330. Early in the 15th century the south aisle was practically rebuilt. Clerestory of the nave and the south porch were built about 1500. The west tower was added about 1530. A rood-loft staircase in the south-east angle of the nave was destroyed in the 19th century when the church was restored. Nave south arcade was rebuilt then. Features and fittings include: 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th century windows and window details; two 14th century doorways in chancel north wall, one blocked, possibly not 'in situ'; nave south doorway 15th century; early 16th century west doorway in tower; nave roof about 1500 with seven elaborate double hammer beam trusses with inscribed wall plates; south angle beam to roof much restored, about 1500; south porch roof early 16th century; two king-post trusses; two brass indents in tower, one 15th century, other early 16th century; dug-out chest in vestry, date uncertain; early 16th century door in nave south doorway; 16th century doors in tower west doorway and doorway to tower staircase; 15th century font; late 15th century glass in nave; now fragmentary 14th and 15th century glass at Rectory, from blocked window in chancel. Early 14th century piscina in chancel; probably early 15th century piscina in south aisle; 15th century screen under chancel arch, incorporated in 'modern' screen, panels formerly painted, said to have had figures of St Peter Martyr and St Giles; about 1340 sedilia in chancel; probable stoup in south porch, early 16th century; architectural fragments in churchyard north of chancel, including bases, jamb-stones, fragments of coffin lids etc; fragments of five 13th century coffin lids in chancel; three slip tiles in vestry. Restored late in the 19th century when the chancel and the wall on each side of it were rebuilt. The south arcade of the nave was renovated and the south organ chamber added at the same time. The westernmost window in the chancel north wall was 15th century but has a wooden frame with segmental head, dated 1678. Features and fittings include: four 17th century bells; monument, 1676, on north wall of chancel; floor slab in tower, 1691; paintings in nave, on west wall, on canvas, of Moses and Aaron, late 17th or early 18th century. Site Assessment = west tower and nave roof are interesting examples of early 16th century work. <2> Some of the tiles in the walls may be Roman. <3> Although the earliest visible part is a 13th century window in the north wall, though the manor of Gestingthorpe was held by a priest before Domesday. <4> <5> Parish church of St Mary the Virgin. Probably of 12th-13th century origin, but apart from blocked 13th century north window in chancel the earliest features are about 1380 when north vestry and aisle added. Nave clerestory and south porch (red brick) about 1500 and shortly afterwards the fine red brick west tower was built (embattled parapet with corner pinnacles on corbel table of trefoiled arches). Some later 19th century restoration. Good east 16th century double hammer beam roof to nave. The fittings include a 15th century carved octagonal font, 15th century chancel screen incorporated in modern screen, and alabaster wall monument to John Sparrow 1626. <6> Church is small in comparison to the tower which was added in about 1498. Church partly Norman, partly 14th, partly 15th century. Five-light 14th century east window in chancel is especially interesting for its reticulated tracery. Nave roof, added around the same time as the tower is uncommonly splendid for Essex. Tracery in chancel east window is of a rare (early) variety of reticulation. Nave roof is uncommonly splendid for Essex - only a few examples of double hammer beam type in the county. <7> Nave, chancel, and south aisle probably 14th century; west tower 16th century, red brick and very fine. Hammer beam roof of nave, dated 1489. Chancel floor re-laid; tiles and fragments of five coffins recorded by RCHM have gone. Heavily restored in the 19th century. Graded AIIb by Rodwell. Site Assessment = External ground level high, must be causing dampness behind panelling. Exterior mainly cement rendered; looks drab, but is in reasonable order. Part recently re-rendered and not well done. Stone dressings generally in poor condition and are repaired with cement. Good group of monuments at east end of churchyard. There are several sarsens near the church. <8> Tower about 1500. William Carter bequeathed 40 shillings towards its cost in 1498. Two large dug-out chests with iron bars and many locks, one at the foot of the tower, the other in the ringing chamber. Door in south doorway has linenfold planks that lack terminals, framed on two durns, three stiles and five dovetailed ledges. <9> Heavily restored in the 19th century. External ground level high and must be causing dampness behind the panelling. Superlative double hammer beam roof. Exterior is mainly cement rendered; looks drab but is in reasonable order; part recently re-rendered and not well done. Stone dressings generally in poor condition and are repaired with cement. Major opportunity lost when chancel floor was re-laid - what has happened to the medieval floor tiles and In 1988 a trench was excavated against the north side, at the east end of the nave wall. The church wall is about 1m wide, bonded with clay mixed with some lime. A deposit of relatively loose flints in sandy silt and clay was exposed on the bottom of the trench. Running above this, and bedded on a layer of greenish yellow sand, were two courses of exceptionally large bricks (285 x 135 x 80mm). These were sealed by a mixed dark brown clay loam with small brick and mortar debris. The loose fill suggests the existence of a grave, and the large bricks may have therefore been associated with a monument. Most probable date of the bricks is 16th or 18th century. The bricks seemed earlier than the refacing of the base of the wall at this point, which has been carried out in Tudor bricks, presumably re-used. If there was a monument here, it must have been removed before the construction of the very large buttress at the junction of the nave and chancel. Test holes around the perimeter of the church turned up Tudor-type brickwork which may be associated with a grave or else with some structure adjoining the church. <10> July 1976. Field visit. St Mary's Church is mainly of 14th century construction restored in 1894, There is a blocked-up 13th century lancet window in the rendered over north wall. The south wall contains various scattered fragments of thick tile, some of which may be Roman. <11> <12> See also: <13> - <17>