St Mary's Church, Steeple Bumpstead has lost the steeple which gave it its name. The ancient church has a Norman tower, though its upper stage has been repaired with Tudor brick. There are three narrow Norman windows, and a gargoyle below each length of parapet. The porch is 14th century; its roof and a pair of rough and gnarled benches are 16th. The door is partly 16th century and by it is an ironbound almsbox of about 1500 on a traceried post.
The tower arch stands on round pillars and was set up about 1500, a century after the wide chancel arch. In the aisles are six poppy heads, which are 400 years old, attached to modern seats, and in the back of a pew is old panelling which says "Onsel and Thomas Lond, her son, did these stools make in l568." There are two Tudor stalls in the chancel, a 17th century oak chest in the vestry, an altar table of about 1700, and a cupboard door with Jacobean carving. The font is 500 years old. In one of the windows are fragments of medieval glass, and on a wall hangs a wooden helmet with a Tudor crest.
There is an 18th century monument to Sir John Bendish and his wife, with their busts, by which stands a cherub holding a flaming torch upside down. A finer monument against the same wall is to Sir Henry Bendish, the last baronet, showing him reclining in lace cuffs, cravat, and buckled shoes, his curly wig falling over his shoulders. Playing by his pillow lies his infant son, Henry, a lively little fellow. On the wall nearby is a stone to Dick Dare who made his last long journey a few years ago: he, his father, and his grandfather were carriers from Bumpstead to London for 150 years.
An 8th century bronze boss with panels of ornament and sockets for 18 jewels used to be on the chancel door of the church and is now in the British Museum.
In the 11th century village church, there is a plaque to Edith Cavell, a nurse who died in Brussels on 12th October 1915, shot by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers to escape. She became a legend for bravery and sacrifice. Her ties with Steeple Bumpstead occurred during 1886, when she was appointed governess to the four children of the Reverend Charles Powell, vicar of Steeple Bumpstead.
Near the published co-ordinates you will find the grave of John Willett who died ABth May CD00, aged E9.
The cache can be found at N52 02.(B+C)(A+3)(C), E000 26.(D-C)(E)(E-2)
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