Shotley St Mary?s church

Image: © Adrian S Pye Taken: 1 May 2007

I had expected to find a beautiful traditional parish church sitting on a prominence overlooking the estuary. What I actually found is ugly to the extreme. The squat tower is cement-rendered and looks like a toilet block. Enough about the outside. Inside however, is a different matter. The nave roof is a superb double hammerbeam construction with some simple tracery in the spandrels. The rest of the church has been clinically sterilised but is not offensive. The walls have been replastered and whitened. The chancel arch has been oak-panelled. The east window is very modern but not somehow out of place here. Although it doesn’t show it, the church is actually 14th century, but the chancel is four centuries later. The clerestory lights the interior to perfection. Despite the outward appearance, it is a lovely church.

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