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The church of St. Michael and All angels in Letcombe Bassett consists of chancel 25 ft. by 11 ft. 6 in., with south vestry, nave 39 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 6 in., south aisle 29 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft., north porch, and west tower 8 ft. by 7 ft., all these measurements being internal.

The chancel is of 12th-century dale and probably also the walls of the nave, but all the nave windows are of a later period, and the masonry being stuccoed makes it difficult to determine whether the original walls were rebuilt or whether the windows are insertions. The chancel may have been lengthened c. 1280–90, to which period its east and south windows belong, but its plan and the absence of all buttresses rather suggest that the whole is 12th-century work with later windows inserted. Towards the end of the 13th century the building underwent great changes, the north doorway and the tower being both of that period. The westernmost window on the south side of the chancel may be rather earlier, and that on the south side of the nave east of the aisle is of the late 14th century. The remaining old window, on the north side of the nave, is a 15thcentury insertion, the other two being modern. That near the pulpit dates from 1909. The south aisle was added in 1862, when the church underwent a restoration, and the porch and vestry are also modern. The west side of the tower has been rebuilt in brick, perhaps in the first half of the 18th century, and the whole of the tower was repaired in 1884.

With the exception of the brickwork in the tower and the south and east sides of its upper stages, which are of coursed rubble masonry with large quoins, the whole of the walling of the church is stuccoed externally and plastered inside. The roof of the nave is covered with lead overhanging at the eaves, and those of the chancel and aisle are tiled.

The chancel has a pointed east window of two plain lights with a quatrefoil within a circle in the head. On the north side is a small 12th-century round-headed window high up in the wall with square external rebate and head in one stone without label, and there is a similar window opposite on the south side now opening to the vestry. Further west on the north side is an original round-headed doorway, now built up, with tympanum and arch of a single order with roll moulding on the edge, springing from quirked and chamfered imposts and angle shafts with cushion capitals and moulded bases. On the flat surface of the capitals are carved the emblems of the four Evangelists, the angel and the eagle on the east and the lion and the ox on the west of the opening, the width of which is only 23 in. The square inner jambs support a lintel with chamfered edge below the tympanum, the surface of which is scored across with horizontal, perpendicular and diagonal lines and may originally have had a thin coat of plaster. The neckings of the shafts below the capitals have on the east side an interlaced and on the west a cable moulding, and the figures above are boldly carved. The doorway was described in 1849 as 'blocked up for a fireplace,' but the wall inside now shows no signs of this or of the original opening. In the south wall of the chancel are two windows, one near each end, that to the west being the older and consisting of two plain coupled lancets without containing arch or hood mould, and the other of two trefoiled lights with circle above, below a pointed arch and label. The modern doorway to the vestry cuts into the sloping sill of the 12th-century window, and the roof consists of coupled spars with a single tie-beam. There are no remains of ancient ritual arrangements. The semicircular chancel arch is of a single square order springing from chamfered and carved imposts. The arch and jambs are quite plain, but it is possible that the opening may have been altered at some time in the 18th century, when probably the indented plaster ornament round the arch was added and the whole of the wall surface plastered. The imposts, however, are remarkable for the rich nature of the ornament with which they are covered and are returned some little distance along the west wall, north and south, though not taken through the full thickness of the wall. On the south side is a beautiful scroll pattern with a band of cable moulding below, while on the north is a scroll facing west and on the inner face an antique or leaf pattern, both with cable below. On either side of the arch at the east end of the nave is a niche, probably of 15th-century date, that on the north side having a trefoiled head, above which is the upper doorway to the rood-loft, all other trace of which is gone. A thickening in the wall outside at the junction of the chancel and nave indicates the position of the rood-stairs, but the lower doorway has disappeared.

The 15th-century window in the nave is squareheaded and of two cinquefoiled lights; that to the west of the porch is modern. The pointed north doorway has continuous moulded head and jambs, but no label. Near to the eastern jamb inside is a pointed stoup. The south side of the nave is open for the greater part of its length by a modern arcade of two pointed arches to the aisle, but is lighted at its east end by a square-headed window of three trefoiled ogee lights with inverted trefoils in the head, probably dating from c. 1380–90. The roof of the nave is apparently of 15th-century date, when it replaced an older one of higher pitch. It consists of four bays with moulded tie-beams and chamfered intermediate rafters and purlins. The principals are carried down the walls and rest on stone corbels carved with a saltire within a square frame. The ridge of the roof is below that of the chancel.

The tower is of three stages with diagonal buttresses on the west side and terminates in a straight parapet. The two lower stages are unmarked externally, the walls being unbroken up to the string below the belfry. The west side is faced its entire height with 2½-in. bricks and the buttresses and dressings are of red sandstone contemporary with the brickwork. The west window is of two trefoiled lights without containing arch or hood mould and may be a late 13th-century window reset or a late copy of an old opening. The belfry windows are plain square-headed openings, one on each side, and the parapet is moulded. The tower arch is of three chamfered orders without hood mould, towards the nave, and two facing west, dying into the wall at the springing. There is no vice.

The font consists of a plain circular stone bowl and stem on an octagonal to square base, and may be of 13th-century date. The pulpit and fittings are all modern. There are no ancient monuments, but in the chancel floor are inscribed stones to two former rectors, the Rev. W. Durham (d. 1686) and the Rev. H. Hill (d. 1707).

There is a ring of three bells, two dated 1576 and inscribed, 'Hail Mari ful of Gras. W.R.' and 'Glori to God on hi in earth pes,' and the third cast by Oliver Cor of Aldbourne in 1726.

The plate is all modern and consists of a chalice, paten and flagon of 1862 by Keith; there is also a plated paten.

The registers before 1812 are as follows: the first volume is in two parts, the first containing entries from 1564 to 1642 and some at the end on inserted leaves for the years 1639, 1656, 1662, 1663, 1664, 1674, 1679 and 1681  the second part contains baptisms and burials from 1683 to 1776 and marriages from 1685 to 1738  (ii) baptisms and burials from 1776 to 1812, marriages from 1755 to 1767  (iii) marriages from 1770 to 1812.

The churchyard is surrounded by lime trees and lies chiefly on the north side, where are four good tombs of late 17th and 18th-century date, two of which (one dated 1690) have rounded tops. Of the others, one is dated 1732, and the other is 18thcentury work with 'Gothic' panelling on the sides.

Historical information about St. Michael's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Letcombe Bassett', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 217-222. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp217-222 [accessed 6 March 2023].

St. Michael's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL, Letcombe Bassett - 1253889 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Michael's Church see Parishes: Letcombe Bassett | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).