Great Bentley is a village in the Tendring district of NE Essex, 7 miles E of Colchester and 5 miles NW of Clacton-on-Sea. The village is grouped around a large green, said to be the largest in Essex, covering 45 acres with the church at the SW end. St Mary’s has a chancel, a nave with Romanesque windows and N and S doorways recorded below, and a W tower. The nave has a W gallery and a N rood stair. The N doorway faces the village and is protected by a porch. On the S side the nave doorway gives access from the church to a modern brick and glass passage linked to a hall; a structure built in 1987 and only accessible by arrangement. The church is of puddingstone, septaria and flint rubble with much herringbone masonry in nave and chancel. It was restored in 1871-74; a restoration that included the replacement of the chancel arch.

Great and Little Bentley are not distinguished in the Domesday Survey, but it seems safe to assume that the largest of the three holdings there was Great Bentley. It was held in demesne by Aubrey de Vere, and had belonged to Wulfwine before the Conquest, when it was assessed as a manor of 3 hides. It also contained woodland for 150 pigs, pasture for 150 sheep, 6 acres of meadow and a salt pan.

There were two smaller holdings listed in the Domesday Survey in Great and Little Bentley. Land assessed at 42½ acres was held by Henry d’Epaignes from Count Alan in 1086, which had been held by Alwine in 1066. This holding also included woodland sufficient for 6 pigs. Finally a manor of 1 hide was held by Wihtgar in 1066 and by Roger from Richard, son of Count Gilbert, in 1086. The manor also included woodland for 100 pigs.

The lordship of the manor of Great Bentley remained with the de Veres until 1460 when John, the twelfth earl was attainted, but was returned to the same family by Henry VII.

Bettley and Pevsner describe the S side addition, by E. D. Mills and Partners, as unsympathetic, “taking up an unreasonable amount of the otherwise garden-like churchyard”. It certainly restricts access through the elaborate S nave doorway; making it a feature of the parish room rather than part of the normal experience of entering the church. The RCHME entry and the list description both offer a date of 1130-40 for the nave and chancel, which is probably correct despite the herringbone masonry.