St Mary's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in

Tenbury Wells Tenbury Wells (locally Tenbury) is a small market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north-western extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Situated 6 miles southeast of Ludlow, its northern border ...

, in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England. The church dates from the 12th and 14th centuries, with later rebuilding and renovation. It in the

Diocese of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...

, and is

Grade II* listed 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 ...

History and description

The oldest part of the church is the tower, of the mid 12th century. In the 14th century the nave and chancel were rebuilt, and north and south aisles were created, producing the present layout.'Parishes: Tenbury', in ''A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4'', ed. William Page, J W Willis-Bund (London, 1924)
British History Online. Retrieved 19 February 2025. The church is situated near the

River Teme The River Teme (pronounced ; ) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of Bucknell and continu ...

; there was a serious flood in 1770, and much of the church had to be rebuilt. The east and south walls of the south aisle were rebuilt, and the walls of the north aisle were repaired. There was restoration in 1864 to the plans of

Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...

, the architect of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, built near Tenbury in the 1850s. There was another flood on 14 May 1886; in the south aisle there is a brass plate indicating the height to which the flood water rose.

Interior

Between the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and aisles there are four-bay arcades, with pointed arches, on pillars with a

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

plan, and there is a pointed chancel arch. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, nave and aisles have open timber trussed roofs. There is a west gallery. There is a stone pulpit, with figure reliefs, and a stone font. All these features date from the 19th century. The south porch, organ chamber and vestry date from the late 19th century. There are memorials in the chancel, and in the north and south aisles. An

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

tomb at the east end of the south aisle has well-detailed recumbent effigies of Thomas Acton of Sutton (died 1546) and his wife Mary (died 1564). Panels on the tomb have the images of their two sons Lancellot and Gabriell, who died in infancy, shown as kneeling youths; another panel shows their daughter and heir Joyce, who erected the tomb in 1581. She married the politician Thomas Lucy."Thomas and Mary Acton, erected 1581"
Church Monuments Society. Retrieved 23 February 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenbury Wells, Saint Mary's Church Saint Mary's Church Grade II* listed churches in Worcestershire Church of England church buildings in Worcestershire Diocese of Hereford