Parish Church Of St Mary The Virgin

TL 0847 CARDINGTON CHURCH LANE

9/9 Parish Church of Saint 13.7.64 Mary the Virgin

GV II

Parish Church. Mostly rebuilt 1897-1901 by George Highton the Diocesan Surveyor, for Samuel Whitbread, but retaining some original details. Original parts (chancel) of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, C19 work of grit stone from Tansley Moor, Derbyshire, with Ketton stone dressings. Chancel, N transept, 4-bay nave, N and S aisles and chapels, S porch, W tower. Chancel clerestory, 2-bay arcades, and E end with 5-light window are c.1500. N and S chapels have 5 Norman gargoyles reset below parapets. S doorways of nave and S chapel, and N windows of N chapel, are C15, the latter heavily restored. The S nave arcade reuses 2 C13 capitals. Tower arch has some re- tooled C12 voussoir stones. Otherwise, building dates mainly from 1897-1901 and is in C15 style with embattled parapets. Interior: E bay of both chancel arcades taken up by canopied C16 tombs with elaborate carving and archways to chapels. N one has brass to Sir William Gascoigne (controller of Wolsey's household) d,1540 and his 2 wives. S one, originally a Gascoigne tomb, was appropriated for, and has brass of 1638 to Sir Jarrate Hervey and his wife Dorothy. Both families were related by marriage and were successive inhabitants of Cardington Manor. N transept has monument to Whitbread family. W one to Ive Whitbread and ancestors, by Peter Scheemakers, after 1766, has inscription to base, supporting 2 busts and obelisk. N one to Samuel Whitbread d. 1796, by John Bacon R A, showing Whitbread lying on couch, supported by Faith, who points to heaven, whilst mourning woman kneels at feet. E one to Samuel Whitbread d. 1815, by H. Weekes (dated 1849), showing husband and wife kneeling. N. Chapel has plain wall monument to Henrietta Howard d.l765, with brief inscription to husband John Howard, philanthropist and prison reformer, d. 1790. Black basalt Wedgwood font on tapering square fluted pillar, given 1783 by Harriet Whitbread. J Pickford, A Short Guide to Cardington (unpubd) 1982; also numerous documents in Bedfordshire Record Office).

Listing NGR: TL0864647897