Marston Mortaine - Church of St Mary the Virgin

The round tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin was once accommodation for the visiting priests. The chancel has an ironstone embattled parapet. On the north wall is a vestry with a priests' room above dating from around 1340. Most of the church was restored in 1873 and Sir Gilbert Scott, a famous architect designed the altar rails and altar table. The south wall has a piscina and two "squints" and an organ by Bevinngtons of London dated 1863. During the reformation it is believed the puritans painted over wall paintings, but one which remains is the doom painting above the aisle. The Roundheads also left their mark here in chopping off the nose, feet and hands of the Elizabethan effigies of Sir Thomas Snagg and his wife. Sir Thomas was the speaker of the House of Commons in 1593 and died in exile in Paris in 1698. The Snagg family presented sections of tapestries to the Church. One on the North wall was used in Westminster Abbey at the coronation of George VI in 1937, and on the North aisle wall is a portion from the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. The church walls were painted over in puritan fashion, but one painting which remains is the Doom painting, a simple