File:Ashford, St Mary's church interior (27526604102).jpg

A church was mentioned in the Domesday survey "at Essetisford" probably on the present site. The Church has a few traces of Norman stones, and early English 13th Century work, but has a late decorated interior and perpendicular exterior. In about 1475 Sir John Fogge extensively restored the church, raising the height of the nave and transepts and adding the present tower of 120 feet on top of the original old one. There are 10 bells. Sir John Fogge also commissioned his own tomb to reside in the church. Now located to the north of the altar, it displays his political allegiances with Yorkist roses, which, with Fogge’s coat of arms, were repeated on the sides of the contemporary font. The church contains 3 fine monuments to the Smythe family from late 16th and early 17th Century. The plaster nave ceiling is known as "Laudian" and dated 1638. There is a gallery running round the nave, dating from the 17th C. The church struggled to accommodate the congregation and the aisles were widened in 1827, and with the arrival of the railway even more space was needed, as the town almost doubled in size. In 1851 1000 people had attended the church in a single sitting. So the west end was extended in 1860. Eventually a new church, Christchurch, was built 1864-77 Unusually, when the church was restored in 1860 the architect Ewan Christian kept the galleries (he usually swept them away).