Church of St Mary
CHURCH OF ST MARY, MAIN ROAD, WOODHAM FERRERS, CM3 8RF
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1236909
- Date first listed:
- 10-Apr-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY, MAIN ROAD, WOODHAM FERRERS, CM3 8RF
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:
- 2006-07-06
- Reference:
- IOE01/14818/28
- Rights:
- © Mr Reginald Clark. 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:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1236909
- Date first listed:
- 10-Apr-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY, MAIN ROAD, WOODHAM FERRERS, CM3 8RF
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, MAIN ROAD, WOODHAM FERRERS, CM3 8RF
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Essex
- District:
- Chelmsford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 79782 99398
Details
TQ7999
719/37/518
WOODHAM FERRERS
MAIN ROAD (West side)
CHURCH OF ST MARY
10-APR-1967
GV
I
Parish church. C13 and C14, restored C19. Flint, some brick and ashlar dressings; slate and plain tiled roofs. Nave, nave aisles, chancel, south porch and north vestry.
EXTERIOR: west end with C19 arched brick opening partly glazed replacing early C16 tower collapsed in 1715. To right and left are remains of flushwork arcading. One 2-light early C14 reticulated west window to south aisle, mouchette tracery to north aisle. C19 timber and weatherboarded belfry with octagonal broach spire. Aisles both with early C14 moulded doorways and 2 2-light reticulated windows to flanks; one similar window to east ends. Timber south porch on brick plinth with 6 bays of formerly open arches (glazed in C19), each with cinquefoil cusping. Elaborate crown post roof with moulded timbers and moulded ashlaring and arched braces to the crown purlin. Timber benches to east and west, with opening lids for storage. 3 C19 segmental windows to clerestory north and south set within splayed C13 openings. 2 bay chancel with stepped buttresses, diagonal to south-east corner. South chancel with 2 early C14 2-light windows and one 3-light Perpendicular window. 5-light late C19 Perpendicular east window. North chancel mostly obscured by a large vestry under a catslide roof erected 1849 with a prominent flint and stone chimney: One 2-light early C14 window with a quatrefoil vesica.
INTERIOR: 3-bay arcade of c.1260 consisting of alternating octagonal and circular piers on moulded bases and with undercut capitals. Double chamfered arches. Traces of paint on piers, especially a complete C14 secular head on north-west pier. Splayed clerestory openings. North aisle with 2 C13 round-headed niches. C13 scissor-braced nave roof with collars and 4 tie beams; north aisle roof of moulded C15 rafters and purlin; south aisle roof of plain chamfered timbers, probably C19. Former tower arch with remains of early C16 double sunk chamfer mouldings to jambs but no arch. Chancel arch with double chamfered arch on semicircular responds. Painting of Doom over chancel arch, probably C15: very faint with traces of reds and ochre colours depicting central Christ flanked by angels and with a frieze of souls below Chancel with triple sedilia under depressed arches and a double C13 piscina to east with trefoiled arches. Arched C13 vestry door to north.
FITTINGS: fine wall monument in chancel to Cecilie Sandys, died 1610, monument erected 1619. Alabaster, with a kneeling figure in profile set within an architectural surround of block entablatures on Corinthian columns with a deep shell hood decorated with rose trails in the form of a bower. 2 victories on top and a standing figure of Time to the left. Corresponding figure on the right missing. 4 C15 stalls in chancel, with poppy-head bench ends. Plain C14 octagonal font. Circular C19 pulpit with panelling.
Bibliography
(Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), An Inventory of Essex South East, 1923, Vol. 4
Listing NGR: TQ7978299398
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 428045
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
An Inventory of Essex South East, (1923)
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 03-Jun-2026 at 23:25:12.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry