Parish church. 12th-16th and 18th-20th ceturies, restored 1869. Re-roofed 1947-53, vestries 1954.New pews 1955. Dressed stone and ashlar. Ashlar dressings. Copper and plain tile roofs. Chamfered plinths and coped parapets. Crenellated rainwater heads dated 1869. West tower, vestries, nave, chancel, organ chamber, north and south aisles, south porch. (3)
Tower - buttresses connected horizontally by a band at the top, and battlements above that. The S capitals have been redone by a workman of the C14 with fanciful heads and monsters and large leaves. The doorway into the N aisle is earlier than the arcade. Font - plain C13. Choirstalls - elaborate C14 tracery. (1)
There is little to see of the Norman church. What does survive is a 12th century door in the north aisle, now block and only visible from outside…possibly brought [here] from another position. From the same period, perhaps slightly later, is the oak door in the south porch, decorated with iron scrollwork. This is thought to be one of the earliest doors in the county. In the first half of the C13 the nave arcades were constructed. A late C14 to early C15 date seems likely for the west tower. The C15 saw many alterations…the spire was completed, the side aisles of the nave were enlarged, new windows were inserted and the clerestory windows of the nave were added. The only fabric dated (by the list description) to the C16 are windows. In the C18 the south porch was reconstructed in a C15 form. (2)

Lee Elliot, An archaeological watching brief at St Mary's Church, Attenborough. (Unpublished document). SNT6286.

Listed Buildings Slides, 1 slides (Photograph). SNT2648.

Thoroton Society, 1906, TTS, pp 29-36 (Published document). SNT333.

Thoroton Society, 1947, TTS, pp 57-8 (Published document). SNT362.

Thoroton Society, 1965, TTS, p 91 (Published document). SNT378.

DOE, 1986, Dist of Rushcliffe (Listed Buildings) (Published document). SNT6210.

<1> Pevsner N, 1979, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire 2nd ed., pp 59-60 (Monograph). SNT4.

<2> Amy Norcliffe, 2001/2, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Attenborough, Nottingham (Unpublished document). SNT4870.

<3> Historic England, 2021, National Record of Historic Environment (Digital archive). SNT5271.