The church of St Mary the Virgin in Everton is situated to the north of the village off Church End. Parking is available in Church End
Patron saint: St Mary
Reference: The History of St Mary's Church Everton cum Tetworth - Bernard O'Connor. Available from the church
View Bedfordshire Parish Churches in a larger map
The church consists of a nave and chancel, two aisles, a south porch and a west tower that is now truncated following a lightning strike in 1974.
![Everton - St Mary. South aisle. Everton - St Mary. South aisle.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9257.jpg)
Between these two windows is the south porch dating from the late C15. It has unglazed windows to the east and west of two trefoiled lights under square heads. The porch has a low frieze of a quatrefoil design and two small statue niches on the south face. The south doorway itself is Norman dating from around 1160.
![Everton - St Mary. South porch. Everton - St Mary. South porch.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9269.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. South porch. Everton - St Mary. South porch.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9267.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. South doorway. Everton - St Mary. South doorway.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9268.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. South aisle, porch angle window. Everton - St Mary. South aisle, porch angle window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9265.jpg)
In the south-east angle of the porch and the aisle is a small blocked single round arched window dating from before the porch was built.
The west end of the aisle has been rebuilt and houses a small C12 window reset of a similar style to the blocked window in the porch angle.
![Everton - St Mary. South aisle, west window. Everton - St Mary. South aisle, west window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9272.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. Tower from the south-west. Everton - St Mary. Tower from the south-west.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9273.jpg)
The tower is now of two high stages with a modern parapet and corner pinnacles topped with weather vanes.
Originally the C14 tower had another stage above but this was destroyed in a lightning strike in 1974 when it collapsed.
There is an internal stair turret in the south-west corner.
The west window is modern with three trefoiled lights and perpendicular tracery above in a two-centred arch.
![Everton - St Mary. West window. Everton - St Mary. West window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9274.jpg)
The north aisle dates from later than much of the church with quite a high pitched tiled roof leading to three small clerestory quatrefoil windows.
The clerestory on the south has three cinquefoiled windows under square heads.
Two are of four lights and the eastern has two lights.
![Everton - St Mary. North aisle. Everton - St Mary. North aisle.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9276.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. Clerestory north windows. Everton - St Mary. Clerestory north windows.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9311.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. Clerestory south windows. Everton - St Mary. Clerestory south windows.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9310.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. North aisle, west window. Everton - St Mary. North aisle, west window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9277.jpg)
The west window of the north aisle is similar to that in the south aisle, again repositioned and is a single round arched window.
![Everton - St Mary. North aisle, western window. Everton - St Mary. North aisle, western window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9279.jpg)
The north aisle has two windows.
The western window is of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred arch.
Between the two windows is the north door under a plain four-centred arch.
![Everton - St Mary. North doorway. Everton - St Mary. North doorway.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9280.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. North aisle, east window. Everton - St Mary. North aisle, east window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9284.jpg)
The east window of the north aisle is similar to its equivalent on the south aisle being of two cinquefoiled lights with a depressed quatrefoil in the tracery.
This window however is unrestored and has been reset under a square head with trefoil tracery in the spandrels.
Presumably it was reset in this way when the aisle masonry was restored.
![Everton - St Mary. Chancel, north round arch window. Everton - St Mary. Chancel, north round arch window.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9287.jpg)
Towards the east end of the chancel are a pair of plain round-headed lights from the early C12.
From the outside they are quite small and relatively insignificant although notable for the head of the arch being fashioned from a single block of masonry.
On the inside however the window reveals open widely to allow as much light into the chancel as possible.
This is common in windows of this period as the skills to build larger windows were still being developed.
![Everton - St Mary. Chancel, north round arch window internal. Everton - St Mary. Chancel, north round arch window internal.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9303.jpg)
The south side of the chancel is similar to the north with two round-headed lights to the east and a window of two cinquefoiled lights to the west.
![Everton - St Mary. Chancel from the south. Everton - St Mary. Chancel from the south.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9256.jpg)
![Everton - St Mary. Sir Humphrey Winch memorial. Everton - St Mary. Sir Humphrey Winch memorial.](https://bedfordshireparishchurches.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9298.jpg)
In the nave by the chancel arch and above the pulpit is an impressive alabaster and coloured marble monument to Sir Humphrey Winch (1555-1625). Sir Humphrey was a respected judge in the reign of James I rising to the title of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.
Page last changed 21/04/2020.