St Mary the Virgin, Theydon Bois
Introduction
The photograph on this page of St Mary the Virgin, Theydon Bois by Mark Percy as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
St Mary the Virgin, Theydon Bois
Image: © Mark Percy Taken: 16 Jul 2021
The present church was completed in 1850, replacing an earlier version which lasted just ten years and had to be demolished because of defects. Architect of the new church was Sidney Smirke, who also designed the reading room at the British Museum. The tower is topped by a copper clad spire and contains three bells which were brought from the old church, two mediaeval and one Victorian. There are several monuments including hatchments showing the full armorial bearings of some local families and one of the King's arms dating from the reign of James 1. In 1940 a parachute mine was dropped on the Retreat a few hundred yards away. It blew out the west window - which is still clear glass today - and killed 28 soldiers of The Kings Own Scottish Borders who were billeted there. They are commemorated on a plaque in the church.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.673536
Longitude
0.093116