Little Bentley is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Tendring Tendring is a village and civil parish in Essex. It gives its name to the Tendring District and before that the Tendring Hundred. Its name was given to the larger groupings because it was at the centre, not because it was larger than the othe ...

district of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It sits on rising ground just to the west of the Holland Brook. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

troops and Commandoes sometimes encamped locally, and there was a control post for the anti-aircraft guns around the nearby Gt Bromley radar station. A number of Allied aircraft force-landed in the large field south of the Church, including an American B17 bomber. Several V1 flying bombs also hit the parish. The Hall, south west of the Church, was once a larger building. It has a large game wood, made up mainly of coppiced chestnut trees. The Hall is nowadays noted for its annual garden show, making use of water features fed by streams from the wood. In the hamlet of Ravens' Green, 2 miles from the village centre, is a large house formerly known as "the Gamekeepers", for many decades a pub. Little Bentley is also the home of the Little Bentley Park Polo Club.

St Mary the Virgin church

The church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The living is in the gift of

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

. The Church is mainly 13th century on the north side, and 17th on the south. It has a 60-foot medieval tower with ancient bells. The nave roof is original medieval timber, and features rows of beams carved into angels, but with heads cut off during the Civil War by Puritan iconoclasts led by

William Dowsing William Dowsing (1596–1668), also known as "Smasher Dowsing", was an English puritan, and a particularly notable iconoclast at the time of the English Civil War.G. Goodwin, 'Dowsing, William (?1596-?1679), iconoclast', ''Dictionary of National ...

. The east end has three stained glass lancet windows, and between chancel and nave a small door and features in the walls indicate the position of a pre-Reformation

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

. A large royal arms, painted on a diamond-shape timber board, and a 16th-century helmet, are among contents which were stolen – or removed because of the risk of theft – in the 1970s. There are 5 bells in the tower, three dating from 1599 and the latest was made by Miles Graye of Colchester in 1625.

References

External links

LittleBentley.net information site

Church of St Mary, Church Road, Little Bentley
Images of England
Great and Little Bentley entry
Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex, London: Kelly, 1855 Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Tendring {{essex-geo-stub