St Mary the Virgin, Little Laver

The parish church of St Mary consists of nave, apse, south porch, and combined north vestry and organ chamber. The walls are of flint rubble. The porch is of timber. In 1872 the church was largely rebuilt and very little medieval work now remains.

Nothing is left of the pre-13th-century church except the font. The nave was probably rebuilt in the 14th century. It retains two windows, much restored, of this date. The south window has a chamfered hood-mould externally and two muchdecayed head stops. The braced collar-beam roof appears to be partly ancient. The only other original feature is the trefoil-headed piscina, which is probably of the 14th century and which has been reset in the apse.

Drawings of the church before 1872 showed that it had a square-ended chancel with a doorway and a 15th-century window on its south side. In about 1768 the church was described as 'small, of one pace, and the same width, with the chancel, and the whole tyled. The belfry stood in the middle of the church, with a spire shingled, in which there is only 1 bell.' There was one bell by Anthony Bartlet inscribed 'All Glory Be To God' and dated 1674.  Unfortunately, in November 1957, the Bell Towercollapsed bringing down more that half of the West wall and damaging the font. Repairs where made, but as the Visitor will see (or rather not) the Bellery wasn’t reinstated. Sadly, the bell was stolen whilst repairs where in progress.

The square font bowl is of the late 12th century and is similar in character to those in some neighbouring parishes. The base is an addition of 1872 and the carving of the bowl was probably recut at the same time. The decoration includes the fleur-de-lis, crescent, disk, and whorl found on other fonts of the type. There is an interesting counter balanced font cover (see the gallery photos)

The outstanding feature of the churchyard is a holly bush clipped in the shape of a cross. This marks the grave of the Revd. Samuel Dean, Rector of the parish from 1915 to 1917.

This is a beautiful church, please make time for a visit.

The cache

You’re looking for a 35mm film canister. The cache has a log book but no pen so please bring one with you.  

Church Micro Series

If any body would like to expand to this series please do, could you please let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.