St Mary's Church, also called St Mary Virgin Church, is a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Caldicot, Monmouthshire Caldicot ( cy, Cil-y-coed) is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. The town is located between Chepstow and the city of Newport. The site adjoins the Caldicot Levels, on the north side of the Severn Estuary. The population of t ...

, Wales. There is evidence that the church has pre-

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

foundations; however, the earliest part of the building dates from the 14th century. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

There are records that there was a church at this location before the

Norman conquest of Wales The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright. Initially (1067–1081), the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fervour and purpose ...

as it is mentioned in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

and by a charter from King John of England however there is nothing surviving in the current church building from that period. This is reportedly because of

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons from

Llanthony Secunda Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of Augustinian canons in the parish of Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England, situated about 1/2 a mile south-west of Gloucester Castle in the City of Gloucester. It was founded in 1136 by Miles de Gloucester, 1st ...

visited and built the church on top of the older church that was dedicated to

St Bride Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...

dating from around AD 900 at the behest of

Walter of Gloucester Walter of Gloucester (also Walter FitzRoger or Walter de Pitres) (d. ) was an early Anglo-Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches. He was a sheriff of Gloucester and also a ...

after the construction of

Caldicot Castle Caldicot Castle ( cy, Castell Cil-y-coed) is an extensive stone medieval castle in the town of Caldicot, Monmouthshire, in southeast Wales, built near the site of Harold Godwinson's former Saxon castle by the Norman earls of Hereford from abou ...

. The earliest part of the church is the base of the tower, which comes from the 14th century, along with the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, which was part of an enlargement programme at the time. The tower was not fully completed until the 16th century. In the 1850s, the 15th-century north aisle was rebuilt by Henry Woodyer, as well as most of the stained glass windows being replaced. In 1905, the chancel was refitted and many of the Victorian additions were changed.

Modern history

The church was granted Grade I listed status in 1955, with the reason for it being listed given as "...a fine medieval church with interesting Victorian restorations and additions." It was used as a location for the filming of the 2002 film ''

Plots with a View ''Plots with a View'', released internationally as ''Undertaking Betty'', is a 2002 British romantic black comedy film written by Frederick Ponzlov, directed by Nick Hurran, starring Brenda Blethyn, Robert Pugh, Alfred Molina, Naomi Watts, Le ...

''.

References

{{coord, 51.5941, N, 2.7475, W, source:wikidata, display=title Grade I listed churches in Monmouthshire

Caldicot Caldicot may refer to: * Caldicot, Buckinghamshire * Caldicot, Monmouthshire * Caldicot (hundred) * Caldicot Castle, Monmouthshire * Caldicot railway station, a part of the British railway system * Caldicot RFC, a Welsh rugby union club * Caldico ...

Caldicot, Monmouthshire