St Mary's Church is a

Grade I 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, H ...

listed

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the suburb of

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area and former civil parish in 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. The vil ...

in the city of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, in the ceremonial county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in the county. The church is open for worship, while community events aree held in its hall. The church is also connected to two local

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, ...

schools.

Architecture

The church was founded in the 7th century as a chapel by the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

. From the 12th century until the 17th century it was extended and became the largest church in the county of Essex, as well as one of the oldest churches in the county.

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, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England. It is one of two primary stations that serve the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex; ...

in the 1950s File:StMary'sPrittlewell.JPG, The church from the northeast end of the building

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prittlewell, Saint Mary Churches in Southend-on-Sea Grade I listed churches in Essex