Wethersfield Parish

St. Mary Magdalene church at Wethersfield, Essex is Grade I listed and built of flint and pebble rubble with limestone and clunch dressings. The massive 28 feet square tower was erected before 1200 while the south aisle and arcade with round columns dates from about 1200 and the north aisle from about 1340 with octagonal columns. The clerestory was built in the 1400s and restored in the 1600s. The whole church was extensively restored in the 1870s. There are fragmentary remains of 1300s and 1400s stained glass and a later glass quarry with the White Falcon Emblem of Anne Boleyn. The south porch dates from about 1400 and now houses a 2011 installed toilet. The north porch was rebuilt in 1750 using some of the earlier stonework. There is a disused font from the 1400s and a modern copy. The rood screen partially dates from the 1400s while the tower has a 1600s Samson post supporting some of the tower timbers. The pipe organ dates from 1854. There is a fine marble tomb, and funerary helm, to Sir Roger Wentworth who died in 1539 and his wife. The Clerke monument of 1790 is by E. Tomson and the church has restored a hatchment commemorating Christopher Atkinson vicar here 1785-1795.