Church of St Mary the Virgin, South Benfleet

St Mary the Virgin is a parish church in South Benfleet with a stone tower built in the 1300s and a wooden south porch added in the 1400s. The building features an octagonal crown post roof system with detailed moulded capitals in the Chancel, which shows the skilled craftsmanship of its period.

The church began in the 1100s with the Nave, followed by construction of the Chancel and ongoing changes through later centuries. The stone tower and wooden porch were added later, showing how the building grew and changed over time.

The stained glass windows inside come from the 1800s and 1900s, designed by Archibald Nicholson, and sit alongside fragments of older medieval glass. These windows cast colored light through the interior as you walk around, creating a sense of spiritual space.

You can visit when the church is open for services or events, so it helps to check ahead for times when you can go inside. The building sits in an easy-to-reach location in the village center and is accessible on foot from nearby areas.

The church holds a font base from the 1200s that visitors often overlook when they first explore the space. This early liturgical piece survived centuries of building work and remains today as a quiet reminder of how people worshipped here in medieval times.