St Mary the Virgin, Cheshunt

The site of St Mary the Virgin Church has been a place of Christian worship since at least the 12th century, with evidence of a church dedicated to St John the Baptist on the site of the present-day church. The original settlement of Cheshunt likely developed around the church, near the Roman Ermine Street, before a trading community emerged along the high road by 1086, as noted in the Domesday Book. The current church was rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 under the rectorship of Nicholas Dixon, possibly due to neglect following the Black Death which disrupted many ecclesiastical institutions.The dedication changed from St John the Baptist to St Mary the Virgin during this period.

St Mary the Virgin, Cheshunt is an example of Gothic architecture, constructed from cemented flint with ashlar dressings. It consists of a chancel with north and south chapels, a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower with an octagonal turret rising above its embattled parapet. The west tower, built of ashlar in three stages, has a vaulted lower stage and buttresses at the base. It contains a pointed west doorway beneath a square head with traceried spandrels and a three-light west window above. Two-light cinquefoiled windows light the upper stages, though much of the stonework is now decayed. The church’s six medieval bells were recast, and two new bells added,…