St
Mary's
Index
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St Mary's Church
History
  his may have been an Anglo-Saxon Christian site, but building,
development and upkeep of the Church were the work of the Norman Lisours and
their descendants, the Fitzwilliams and Copleys, until well into the
20th century. The core of the nave was built in about 1170 and then,
after more than 100 years, the old chancel was replaced by the larger and more
elaborate one that is still there. This was followed during the next 50 years
with an extension of the nave, the addition of side aisles and the building of a
short tower. Monuments in the south aisle are of this period.
Then the Black Death intervened and it was not until the 1370s that William Fitzwilliam had
the tower repaired and the present belfry stage added. In 1516 the Fitzwilliam
rights in the church passed through a daughter to the Copleys, who seem to have
made the next move. The nave was made higher, with clerestory windows, and
pitched roofs over nave and chancel were replaced by flat ones, with the
regrettable loss of the 13th century east window. The room used as a
vestry was probably of this date.
Since then changes to the building itself have been less: porches were added and, to celebrate the 2nd millennium of Christ's birth, there has been an important development of the vestry. Within, furniture and fittings have been maintained and adapted to suit changing needs.
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