Church of St Mary the Virgin
CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1089119
- Date first listed:
- 24-Nov-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary the Virgin
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-10-24
- Reference:
- IOE01/05150/07
- Rights:
- © Mr A. Gude. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1089119
- Date first listed:
- 24-Nov-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary the Virgin
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- East Hertfordshire (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Stapleford and Waterford
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 31192 16863
Details
STAPLEFORD CHURCH LANE TL 31 NW (South side) Stapleford 4/114 Church of St. Mary 24.11.66 the Virgin - II*
Parish church. Mid C12 with later medieval alterations. Restored and enlarged 1874 at expense of Abel Smith of Woodhall Park (q.v. Watton- at-Stone Civil Parish). Flint rubble, cement rendered with stone dressings, stock brick buttresses. Weatherboarded tower stage to leaded timber spire. Tiled roofs. Originally a 3 bay nave with narrower and shorter chancel. Nave lengthened by 1 bay, S vestry, N transept, porch and tower added all in C19. Chancel E end: C19 3 light window, rectilinear tracery, moulded pointed arch, hood mould with mask stops, 2 stage C19 diagonal buttresses, bargeboards. Chancel to N has a restored C13 lancet and a C19 Gothic panelled door with a hood mould. Nave has bargeboards to taller E gable. N transept: gable end 2 light window with traceried head, 4 centred arch with hood mould. Quatrefoil above with date 1874. 2 stage diagonal buttresses, plinth, bargeboards. E return has a Gothic panelled door with hood mould. Further W and projecting from nave in angle with transept is C19 entrance porch surmounted by tower. Inside porch is early knapped flint walling with C12 round arched door surround, 2 orders, inner colonnettes with foliate capitals, moulded bases, triple horizontal zigzag on arch, outer voussoirs have vertical zigzag. Outer entrance to porch has pointed arch, moulded hood mould. To left steps up to a plank door to stair turret with an upper slit opening. To right a 3 stage diagonal buttress. Lancet in return to W. Cornice to weatherboarded upper stage of tower with a leaded light to N, broaches to octagonal head and timber belfry. Octagonal spire has zigzag patterning, weathervane finial. 2 stage buttress at original W end of nave, a C19 square headed light in added bay. W end C19 3 light window with rectilinear tracery, upper cusped diamond, 3 stage diagonal buttresses, plinth, bargeboards. Nave to S has 3 windows, that to centre a single C19 light replacing C12 door, lower jambs of which are visible with mass dial. Towards E end is a C15 window, 2 cinquefoiled lights with curvilinear tracery, 4 centred arched head with hoodmould, this window copied in C19 towards W end. 2 stage buttresses to right of door and at original W end. Slight thickening of wall for rood stairs with a slit light at E end of nave S wall, 2 stage buttress. Extending from chancel to S is large lower vestry. Gable end 3 light traceried window, angle buttresses, lancets in returns, blocked to E. Door to E with a 4 centred arched head with square hood mould. Interior: C16 2 centred chancel arch, double chamfered with moulded caps at springings. C13 lancet in a deep embrasure from chancel S wall to vestry. C19 double chamfered pointed arch from nave to N transept. Nave SE angle has chamfered 4 centred arched headed opening to rood stairs with upper opening with chamfered jambs. C15 or early C16 crown post roof in nave, extended to W in C19, octagonal crown posts with caps and bases, 4 way braces, stop chamfered tie beams, ovolo moulded wall plates. Late C18 vase baluster font with swags on bowl. Early C18 stone memorial to Rev D Williams removed from churchyard to nave S wall, arms in relief. Nave SE window has fragments of C15 glass at head, elsewhere early C20 glass. 1919 sanctuary panelling and communion rails. (RCHM 1910: VCH 1912: Pevsner 1977).
Listing NGR: TL3119216863
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 356222
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Doubleday, A, The Victoria History of the County of Hertford, (1912)
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, (1977)
Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 21 Hertfordshire,
Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Hertfordshire, (1910)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 21:52:28.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.