Barnston is a village in the west of Essex, 2 miles S of Great Dunmow and 9 miles NW of Chelmsford. The old village centre, around the church and Hall, is half a mile E of the compact, modern settlement. The church consists of a 12thc nave with a timber bell turret, probably 18thc, at the W end and a S doorway without a porch. This is 12thc as are two round-headed lancets in the N wall, one blocked. The chancel has no details earlier than the 13thc. The exterior walls are rendered. Repairs undertaken in 1967-71 included the digging of a shingle-filled drain around the walls, but clearly this was not entirely successful as work was being undertaken on the drainage system in 1998. The S doorway is the only Romanesque feature described here.