Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bocking Church Street (EHER 14741)

Parish Church. 14th century chancel, mid 15th century nave and aisles, early 15th century west tower, late 15th century chancel chapels and south porch. Flint with ashlar dressings.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: St Mary's Church (C of E) [NAT]. <1> Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin stands at the south-west end of Church Street. The church is a fine flint and rubble building mainly of the 15th and 16th century but with a 14th century chancel. The west tower is early 15th century with 1 square corner staircase tower rising to an octagonal turret and smaller octagonal corner turrets. The nave and aisles have parapets and the east end is embattled. The south porch is embattled, with angle buttresses and with niches on either side of an arched entrance way. A late 14th century doorway has a fine battened door with scroll ironwork ornamentation (of about 1260). On either side of the doorway are heads, said to be of Henry II and Eleanor of Provence (restored 20th century) (2026 note: this could possibly be a mistake - Eleanor of Provence was the wife of Henry III). The naves and aisles have good early 16th century roofs. The church was extensively restored in the 19th and 20th century. There are brasses and a 17th century monument. The wall to the church is a high flint and rubble wall patched with 17th century brick and with later brick buttresses at the south corner. The wall is embattled, with moulded stone copings, 2 of which have 17th century arquebus rests. RCHM 1. Grade B. <2> - <4> 1999. Assessment. The original Saxon church on the site was destroyed by fire in the early eleventh century, and appears to have been rebuilt in stone about the time of the Norman Conquest, an 11th century column and base of this church is incorporated into the late medieval fabric of the north aisle. The Doreward family founded two chantries, in 1362 and 1397 respectively, each apparently with its own chantry priest and each priest had a house and garden. In 1445 it was recorded that the priest who served the Doreward Chantry had a house and garden in 'that part of the churchyard which lies on the far side of the church'. <5> See also: <6> - <10>