Geology Site Account

Site name: St. John the Evangelist

Grid reference: TL 4425 3525

Brief description of site:

St. John the Evangelist church at Langley has walling stone which is almost entirely Bunter cobbles and other quartzites, the remainder being Flint. There are also pieces of Hertfordshire puddingstone.

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Summary of geological interest

St. John the Evangelist church at Langley is unusual in several respects. It is probably the highest and remotest church in Essex. The walling stone is 95% cobbles of Bunter and other quartzite, the remainder being flint. Most of the Cobbles forming the northward-facing aisle wall have been 'knapped' to produce a uniform finish to the wall. This was done in the mid 1880's according to the latest edition of Pevsner. It is very likely that all these stones were locally-sourced glacial erratics.

Oddly, in a restricted area of the isle wall are five broken pieces of a similar looking grey puddingstone. Most have a curved surface and there seems no doubt that these are pieces of a broken Roman quern-stone. There are also pieces of vesicular lava which may be fragments of a Mayen quern stone brought from Eifel in Germany.

Langley Church. Photo: Mike Howgate