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This ancient parish church can trace its origins back to the 12th century.

The church is a Grade II* Listed Building select this link for full architectural description

Set in the midst of a large churchyard, St. Mary's is an island of tranquility in an otherwise busy town.

Within the church you will find many things of interest, including a rare 12th century pillar piscina and the remains of the front top from the original Norman Church.

The church is well maintained today and has a thriving congregation.

Old Sutton the church is one of many old buildings to see in Sutton in Ashfield town centre. Select this link for more information about the church.

In the church-yard is an old headstone that has been listed as of historical interest. It is inscribed "Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth Wright Widow who departed this life July ye 14th 1628".

Who was St. Mary Magdalene?

In the New Testament she is mentioned among the women who accompanied Christ and ministered to Him (Luke 8:2-3), where it is also said that seven devils had been cast out of her (Mark 16:9). She is next named as standing at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:40; Matthew 27:56; John 19:25; Luke 23:49). She saw Christ laid in the tomb, and she was the first recorded witness of the Resurrection.

Christian tradition has depicted Mary of Magdala as a prostitute who repented of her sins. This is without any Biblical basis other than that she has been identified as the sinful woman who anointed Christ's feet at the house of Simon the Pharisee (John 12, but compare Matthew 26 and Mark 14 where the woman is not named). This possible misidentification led to her being made the patron saint of prostitutes; Across Mediaeval Europe 'Magdalene houses' were established for the reformation of fallen women. It is more likely that Mary the Magdalene's popularity in Church dedications is because she witnessed the Resurrection; accordingly, she is referred to in early Christian writings as "the apostle to the apostles."

Because of the assumption that Mary Magdalene had been a spectacular sinner, and also perhaps because she is described as weeping at the tomb of Jesus on the Resurrection morning, she is often portrayed in art as weeping, or with eyes red from having wept. From this appearance we derive the English word "maudlin", meaning "effusively or tearfully sentimental." There is a Magdalen College at Oxford, and a Magdalene College at Cambridge (different spelling), both pronounced "Maudlin." There is also a parish church dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall select this link for more information about the Hucknall St. Mary