The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a grade II listed building in the village of Thornton Watlass, North Yorkshire, England.

[1] It is thought that various Anglo-Saxon stone crosses unearthed in the Thornton Watlass area point to early worship in the area, and whilst the tower dates to the 15th century, the first documented evidence of a rector for the church is from the 12th century, when John persona de watlous, is thought to have been the rector at Watlass and the Dean of Catterick.

[6] Glynne described the tower as being akin to the one at Bedale (the Church of St Gregory) in that it possibly provided protection from attacking or marauding forces, but that its design was of a "plainer" character.

[13][12] A survey of the churchyard in the late 1990s determined that it had over 290 graves, and the interior of the church had over 40 monumental inscriptions commemorating the dead.

[18] In the 21st century, it is its own parish in the benefice of Bedale and Leeming and Thornton Watlass, the Deanery of Wensley, Archdeaconry of Richmond and Craven, in the Diocese of Leeds.