Alphamstone is a village in the Braintreee district of north Essex, a mile W of the river Stour, which forms the boundary with Suffolk. The nearest town of any size is Sudbury (Suffolk), 4 miles to the N.

The church consists of a 12thc nave, altered c.1300 and in the 16thc and restoredby Sir Arthur Blomfield in the 19thc. It has a 3-bay S aisle of c.1300, and a timber bell-turret with a pyramid roof over the W gable. There are porches to the N and S doorways. The chancel, also of c.1300, is 3 bays long. The nave is rendered, the N and E chancel walls ore of knapped flint, and the S chancel wall of brick. The chancel was in the course of restoration in 1902, when the Essex Archaeological Society paid a visit, and at that time dedication of the church was unknown.

The only Romanesque feature is a Purbeck marble font.

The main landholder in 1086 was Alphamstone was Richard fitzGilbert, son of Gilbert Count of Brionne, a major landowner in Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Surrey. He held 1 hide less 5 acres in 1086, this land held from him by 15 sokemen who also held it in 1066 (or their forebears). In addtion, half a hide in Alphamstone was held by Bury St Edmund’s Abbey. Finally, listed under appropriations of the king’s land in 1086 were 4 acres held by Deorwulf and 1 acre held by Hold.

This is one of the least elaborate of the many imported Purbeck fonts in this part of Essex.