St Mary’s Church
900 years of history
Hamstead Marshall
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drawn up in 1929
The arched doorway (pictured left) inside
the Victorian porch of St Mary's Church dates from the end of
the twelfth century, around the time when William the Earl
Marshal of England became lord of the manor. Edward III visited
here in the mid-14th century, and would have entered through
this doorway.
However, it is likely that worship took
place on this spot many centuries earlier. The Saxon village of
Hamstead has been located close by and, like so many English
churchyards, St Mary's has an ancient yew, thought by some to
indicate a place of pre-Christian worship.
St Mary's first appears in the records as
a field church (distinct from a chapel by virtue of having its
own burial ground) reporting to the mother church at Kintbury.
In 1241 Hamstead church gained parish status and its first
rector, Hugh of St Theodoric.
Copyright Penelope Stokes 2011
The north aisle was added around 1350,
when many local churches were benefiting from prosperity in the
wool trade. However by 1393 the church had fallen into
disrepair, and the incumbent was threatened with a 20-shilling
fine if he failed to put matters right by Michaelmas.
Viewed from outside, the east wall of the
main aisle shows clear evidence of a window long since filled
in with flint, brick, mortar and rubble. The straight-headed
windows of the nave and chancel are thought to be early
sixteenth-century.
A major refurbishment took place in 1893,
when the present porch was built, though the church is
considered to have been relatively unspoilt by Victorian
renovation. More restoration in 1929 by Sir Charles Nicholson
revealed two long-lost tombs in the nave, and uncovered an
Early English chancel arch. At this time the gold-lettering on
the reredos (the Lord's Prayer, Creed and Ten Commandments) was
painted over.
The tower was built in the 1620s,
although it has sometimes been mistaken for later work. It
probably replaced an earlier tower, because one of the two
bells which hang today is dated 1592. The pulpit, font,
communion rail and box pews also date from this period. The
west gallery and reredos were added later.
The most recent addition to the church's
ornament is a stained glass window, commissioned to commemorate
the millennium. The artist was Mark Angus, whose work
incorporated visual references to local topography and history.
The window was installed into the medieval stonework of the
east-facing windows of the north aisle, where it is splendidly
illuminated by the morning sun.