St Mary the Virgin, East Barnet

The church was originally constructed in 1080, as a small chapel on the hill. It was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The Abbot of St Albans consecrated it and he became both Patron and Rector until the Reformation. After the Reformation, the church's rector was appointed by the reigning monarch – a practice which continues to this day. The first chapel had thick walls made of compressed rubble, lime and plaster with stone around the openings. The windows had no glass. Much of the north wall is from that time. The frame of the door on the south side is probably also from that same period. The chapel might have had an apse. The church on Chipping Barnet hill was probably founded in the…

Inside, above the doors hangs a crucifix, made by the Wild Goose Studio in Kinsale. It is a replica of a 12th-century Byzantine ‘Christus Rex’, the earliest form of crucifix showing Christ crowned as King and enthroned on the cross. The original is in Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in south west Ireland. Placed at the entrance, this cross is a reminder of the church's ancient Benedictine roots. The north wall, painted white on the outside and illuminated at night, is the oldest part of the church, and all that remains of the first stone church on this site built in 1080. It is built from rubble and lime plaster, with stone used around the windows only. A stone tablet by the north…