St Mary's Church is a
Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
in the suburb of
Prittlewell
Prittlewell is an inner city area of Southend-on-Sea in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. T ...
in the city of
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
, in the ceremonial county of
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Essex. The church is open for worship. community events and other functions as well as its church hall on Victoria Avenue in the city and both its low phase school on East Street and upper phase school on Boston Avenue which are part of the
Church of England's school educational institution.
Architecture
The church was founded in the seventh century as a chapel by the
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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*
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and between the
Twelfth Century and
Seventeenth Century
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movemen ...
. It was added to and became the largest church in the county of Essex and is also one of the oldests churches in the county. The church is also the largest in both Southend and South East Essex.
Gallery
File:Prittlewell Church, interior 1891.png, The interior of the church in 1891
File:St Mary's Church, Prittlewell as seen from near Victoria Station in the 50's - geograph.org.uk - 3023125.jpg, The church from Southend Victoria railway station
Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex (t ...
in the 1950s
File:StMary'sPrittlewell.JPG, The church from the northeast end of the building
References
{{reflist
Churches in Southend-on-Sea (town)
Grade I listed churches in Essex