It has long been maintained that the church in Bartlow was built by King Cnut near the site of the Battle of Assandun, but no evidence for a building of that age has been found; another possibility is that the church in question is St Andrew's in Ashingdon, Essex. The present parish church of Bartlow, dedicated to St Mary, consists of a chancel, a nave with north porch, and a circular west tower. The tower is all that remains of what is believed to be the original church and dates from the late-11th or early-12th century. The nave and chancel were built in the 14th century.