St Mary's Church is a parish church in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

in the parish of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

History

Built mainly in the early thirteenth century from imported stone, the church gained the addition on a timber porch in the fifteenth century and received significant interior restoration and alteration during the mid-late 19th Century. St Mary's Church became the central church on Hayling after flooding claimed the priory church, along with much of the southern edge of the Island in the 13th or 14th century. Although the original stocks and whipping post that were housed in the church yard have now been removed to Havant Museum, St Mary's still has many features worthy of note. The most noticeable of these is the ancient

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

that dominates the church yard, believed to be one of the oldest in the country with a girth of some nine metres. Although estimates as to its age vary, they range from over a thousand to nearly two thousand years old. Carved into the outside walls of the church four sun dials can still be seen by the keen observer. Used for timing the frequent church services in the days before mechanical timepieces, these now receive too much shade from the surrounding yew trees to be of any functional use. In 1803 the three bells in the belfry, once impressed “1324” were replaced by a tolling bell. Inside the church notable features include a stained glass window depicting the

Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a ge ...

created by Herbert Bryans. The church has two interesting fonts. The first font, a Saxon stone basin with interlacing patterns, was excavated from a site near the vicarage in the nineteenth century. The second is a Norman font of a much squarer, less intricate design. In 2010 the church was re-ordered. Victorian pews were removed and replaced with chairs, giving the church a much lighter and more flexible character. Repairs were made to the base of pillars damaged when the pews were put in, and other alterations were made. At the foot of one of the restored pillars the masons carved the head of an elephant. The pipe organ - which had been damaged a few years previously by vandalism - was replaced with a digital organ. In December 2018, Field Service Engineer and World Traveler, Michael Gatten visited the church to witness the west window which was dedicated to his great grandfather, Commodore Lord

Robert Thomas Brudenell-Bruce Commodore Lord Robert Thomas Brudenell-Bruce (25 Jan 1845 – 15 Feb 1912) was a British Commodore of the Royal Navy. He was born the fourth son of Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury. He gained the rank of Commodore in 1900 and in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayling Island, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Hampshire St Mary's Church