History of the Building

St Mary’s today consists of the nave, chancel, Lethieullier chapel, south porch and a small western bell turret.

The nave is built largely of ragstone rubble, flint, chalk and some reused Roman tile. The walls are up to 3 feet thick and there are three Norman windows still remaining at the west end. A small slit window (the least altered) can still be seen opening from the organ loft into the Lethieullier chapel. Two round-headed doorways remain to the south and north.

A date of 1150 has been suggested for the present building, but the nave could well be far earlier, there being no carved detail for accurate dating. Archaeological evidence suggests there was a Saxon church on the same site before this building.

The Lethieullier Chapel is a fine 18th century addition, with monuments to this family and a circular window containing rescued pieces of Tudor glass. The church itself contains many brasses, memorials and hatchments of historical interest. The Rectors board is illustrated by C D Bedford and a large wooden coat of arms for George I bears witness to the then Rector’s vocal support of the king against the Jacobite rebellion.

The churchyard gives rest to many dated tombs of interest, including two war grave memorials.

St Mary’s stands now hemmed in by houses in a noisy urban area, surrounded by the trees and grass of the churchyard. But surely it retains some of the peace and stillness it had when first built among the alders and birches of Epping Forest within the sound, if not the sight, of the great Benedictine Abbey of Barking.