St Mary's Church

About

St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Lower Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Lower Gravenhurst is some 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Bedford, to the east of the A6 road. The church is surrounded by fields and stands on a small hill and open daily.

History: The church dates from the 14th century, having been built for Sir Robert de Bilhemore, who died in about 1361. The tower was added in about 1400.

Exterior: St Mary's is constructed in ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings. Its roofs are tiled. The plan consists of a chancel and a nave in a single unit, and a west tower. Together they are only 14.8 x 5.8m with no division. The tower is in three stages with diagonal buttresses on the west side. At the southeast corner is a semi-octagonal stair turret. In the lowest stage is a three-light west window. The top stage contains two-light bell openings on each side. The parapet is embattled. On the tower is a pyramidal roof surmounted by a shaft, on top of which...