St Mary's Church Stafford, before it was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott between 1841 and 1844. The Collegiate Church of St Mary is the parish church of Stafford. The present building is a mixture of the genuinely medieval and the work of Scott, who restored the church in what he imagined to be its original style. Originally the church possessed a spire, but it was blown down in 1593 during a storm, bringing with it part of the choir roof. As was common with many churches, the public used the nave of the church for their worship, while the deans and canons of the college used the chancel. With the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, this practice ceased but it was not until the 1840s that the screen dividing the two parts of the church was removed.