---
title: "St Mary the Virgin, Ingestre"
description: "Located in Ingestre, Staffordshire. Built Rebuilt 1673–76 beside Ingestre Hall, replacing an earlier church. Diocese of Lichfield. Grade I. Classical (Wren) style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Staffordshire","Ingestre","Grade I","Wren","Classical","Chetwynd"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-mary-virgin-ingestre"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:52:47.020Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T16:06:33.003Z"
location: "Ingestre, Staffordshire"
country: "England"
county: "Staffordshire"
town: "Ingestre"
address: "next to Ingestre Hall, Ingestre, Staffordshire, ST18 0PZ"
postcode: "ST18 0PZ"
built: "Rebuilt 1673–76 beside Ingestre Hall, replacing an earlier church"
consecrated: "August 1677"
architect: "Attributed to Sir Christopher Wren"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["Mary"]
diocese: "Lichfield"
grade: "I"
style: "Classical (Wren)"
materials: "Ashlar"
website: "http://www.stmaryschurch-ingestre.co.uk/"
openingHours: "Easter until the end of September: open Wednesday, Saturday and Bank Holidays 2pm to 5pm. October to Easter: open Saturday 2pm to 4pm. Visits can also be arranged at other times, please contact the church."
parish: "Ingestre St Mary the Virgin"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1259814"
gridReference: "SJ 976 246"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas"
---

# St Mary the Virgin, Ingestre

St Mary the Virgin is a Grade I parish church next to Ingestre Hall in Staffordshire, rebuilt in the 1670s for Walter Chetwynd and widely attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, in the Diocese of Lichfield.

## Overview

Historic England’s list entry states that the church was rebuilt in 1676 “probably by Wren and certainly worthy of him.” Chetwynd, of Ingestre Hall, was a fellow of the Royal Society with Wren. A drawing labelled “Mr Chetwynd’s tower” survives among Wren’s papers; the attribution is circumstantial but long accepted, and Ingestre is often described as the only church outside London attributed to Wren. Foundations were laid in 1673; the ashlar exterior has a west tower with garlands, balustrade and urns.

The Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield consecrated the church in August 1677, baptizing a child, churching a woman, marrying a couple and burying another on the same day to show that this was a parish church, not a private chapel. The listing notes aisled nave arcades with Doric columns on tall square bases, a handsome screen, a richly carved pulpit with tester, a marble font, and late-seventeenth- and nineteenth-century mural tablets. Fittings are largely original and fared well in Victorian hands.

## Further Information

- [St Mary’s Church, Ingestre](http://www.stmaryschurch-ingestre.co.uk/)
- [Historic England list entry 1259814](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1259814)
- [Wikipedia: Ingestre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingestre)