The church of St Mary Magdalene is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

religious building in

North Ockendon North Ockendon is the easternmost settlement of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is east-northeast of Central London and consists of a dispersed settlement within the Metropolitan Green Belt. It was histo ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England (and within the

Upminster Upminster is a suburb of east London, England, in the London Borough of Havering, northeast of Charing Cross. Historically a rural village, it formed an ancient parish in the Chafford hundred of the county of Essex. The economic history of ...

post town). It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and is dedicated to Jesus' companion

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

History

Most of the church building dates back to the fourteenth century, on the site of an earlier church. The tower was built in the fifteenth century and was used by the Reverend

William Derham William Derham FRS (26 November 16575 April 1735)Smolenaars, Marja.Derham, William (1657–1735), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 26 May 2007. was an English clergyman, natural theologian, n ...

in the first accurate measurement of the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elasticity (solid mechanics), elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At , the speed of sound in a ...

. The church was heavily restored in 1858 by Richard Armstrong, and his work was paid for by Richard Benyon of

Cranham Hall Cranham Hall is a Grade II listed building in Cranham, London, England. Built c.1795, it forms a typical Essex church-manor house complex, standing on the ridge in the south of the former parish of Cranham. Its predecessor, of red brick, c.1600 ...

, a wealthy local landowner. A recent extension to the north side was completed in 2003.

Interior

The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is of Elizabethan appearance, but is more likely to be 17th century. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

and royal arms (made of

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

) were both made in 1842. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

behind the altar, depicting the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

, dates to 1879. The numerous monuments are mostly associated with the local Poyntz family. Monumental brasses include one to former vicar Edward Foley Evans, who died in 1933. The main monument is a large stone effigy of Sir Gabriel Poyntz (1538–1608) and his wife Etheldreda, who are lying on a marble tomb chest. Over them is a wooden tester without column supports, decorated with images of the sun, moon, clouds and stars. Gabriel Poyntz placed a series of smaller memorials to commemorate his family, including his father Thomas Poyntz and his uncle and aunt John and Anne Poyntz.William Palin, ''More about Stifford and Its Neighbourhood, Past and Present'' (1872), pp. 121–122.

Music

The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

is a 2 manual Brindley & Foster instrument currently in the care of Martin M Cross builders (Grays) and on which the pitch is rather sharp at A=460.

Bells

The tower has a peal of 6 bells hung for

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...

. They are a descending scale in

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

. The heaviest bell, the Tenor, weighs approx. 9½ cwt. The bells are rung from the ground floor and, unusually, are hung in an anticlockwise direction.

Churchyard

Gravestone for Pte Fred Drury - geograph

The churchyard contains

war graves A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

of three

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

personnel of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record. There is also a well, said to be associated with Cedd, Saint Cedd.

References

Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Havering 14th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in London {{Coord, 51.542, 0.288, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000