Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

An Anglican parish church of late 14th-century origin, substantially rebuilt and restored over subsequent centuries. The building is constructed of dressed squared Painswick stone with stone slate roofs and lead coverings to the aisles.

The church comprises a nave with aisles, chancel, north and south chancel chapels, vestry, south porch, and a west tower with spire. The three-stage tower features diagonal buttresses with six offsets rising to a crenellated parapet, topped by an octagonal spire with roll-mould arrises. Moulded strings define each stage. The west front contains a small plank door under a segmental head, beneath a three-light Perpendicular window, a cusped lancet, and a two-light belfry opening with louvres. The north front has a similar two-light belfry opening above a clock face set in a square surround orientated diagonally, with a plank door up a step to the belfry stair. The south front displays a Baroque wall monument, cusped lancet, and two-light belfry opening.

The south aisle, rebuilt in late 19th-century 'Perpendicular' style following an earlier classical rebuilding of 1741, has two-light windows with transoms to the west and four similar examples to the south, all rising to a string course with blocking and plain parapet. The nave has no clerestory. A canted south porch was added in 1968. The vestry, dating from 1890, features five-light south and two-light east windows, with a door to the south side under a gabled canopy on brackets.

The sanctuary has diagonal buttresses, two-light windows to north and south, a three-light window to the east, and a coped gable, mirrored by a coped gable to the chancel east end. St Peter's chapel to the east has a four-light window to its east end and two two-light windows to its north side, with a coped gable and diagonal buttress.

The north aisle spans five bays with two-light Perpendicular windows separated by shallow buttresses. The westernmost buttress in bay four is set above a pair of 19th-century doors under a pointed arch with drip moulding. The aisle terminates blank at the west end. A plinth, parapet string, blocking, moulded capping, and gargoyles are distributed throughout.

Interior

The five-bay nave arcade features octagonal shafts with mannerist divided capitals and four-centred arches; the south aisle arcade is a late 19th-century rebuilding. A flat four-centred arched timber roof in six bays, dating from the 19th century, spans the nave. The chancel arch is double chamfered. An inscription runs along the top of the dado rail at two metres height to the tower. A fine screen, erected as a memorial to Edwin Gyde in 1901, displays a gilded eagle of 1722 and is constructed of white and black veined marble in Renaissance style. The tower arch is fitted with panelling and Y-tracery.

The north aisle continues as St Peter's Chapel at its east end. The aisle features an arch-braced single-slope roof, three windows containing early 20th-century glass by Powell, and four carved corbel heads on the north wall, with one further corbel blocked but unworked. A door opposite the south entry sits in the second bay from the west. St Peter's Chapel, probably built in 1377, contains two two-light windows in 14th-century style and a four-light window to the east, beneath an arch-braced rafter roof with one moulded tie-beam. Two bays open to the chancel with arcade details matching those of the nave. Screens by Ellis Mars land dating from 1918, executed as a memorial, display good Perpendicular detail.

A 15th-century Purbeck marble tomb stands on the north side. A Tudor canopy incorporating a fan vault carved from solid alabaster shelters effigies dating from the early 7th century, relocated here in the 18th century when a central Corinthian column was inserted to support the vault. A squint opens toward the nave.

The south aisle ceiling comprises four bays of flat 19th-century design, braced with fretwork. Windows by Geoffrey Webb, dating from the mid-20th century, and a heraldic window by Francis Sleat from 1960 light the space. A chapel at the east end, now used as a vestry and extended to the south, features a two-by-two-light window of 15th-century form over a splendid stone reredos with fluted Ionic columns and a broken pediment displaying the Decalogue. A screen by John Bryan, dated 1743, separates this space; Bryan was a carver employed on several fine churchyard monuments.

The chancel comprises one bay, extended into the sanctuary, which formerly served as the Lady Chapel. A faceted 19th-century panelled ceiling covers the space. A cusped piscina sits to the south with a three-part reredos beyond. Tiled floors throughout are interrupted by raised timber panels in the pew areas.

Fittings and Monuments

Standing near the pulpit is a remaining section of a 14th-century spire. 20th-century pews furnish the church. A rood by Snelzler, dated 1770, was brought to the church in 1818. Royal Arms of William IV hang within. Various white marble monuments are positioned in the tower. The south aisle includes a fine Baroque cartouche to John Webb, dated 1712. The north aisle displays a model of the Bonaventura of 1885, a well-carved 17th-century slab beneath the first window from the west, and a monument to Ann Berriman, 1738. The south chapel contains six good wall monuments, including one to Reverend George D., dated 1686.

Historical Context and Alterations

The church was originally owned by Llanthony Priory near Gloucester; no structure from the 12th-century building remains. The nave dates to approximately 1480 and the tower to the 15th century. The spire was struck by lightning in 1763 and again in 1883. The south aisle, rebuilt in classical style in 1741, was replaced once more in Gothic style during the 1883 restoration undertaken by Waller. This same restoration campaign included a rebuilding of the south aisle arcade. The porch was added in 1968.