St Mary's Church in

Kempley Kempley is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. It lies northwest of Gloucester and of Hereford. The nearest market towns of Newent and Ledbury are and ...

is a former

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, ...

in the

Forest of Dean district Forest of Dean is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England, named after the Forest of Dean. Its council is based in Coleford. Other towns and villages in the district include Blakeney, Cinderford, Drybrook, English Bicknor, Hu ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, close to the border with

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. 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 ...

. St Mary's Church is now owned by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and maintained by The Friends of Kempley Churches.

History

The simple Norman church is now remote from the village it served. It has some of the best preserved medieval wall paintings in Britain. Those in the

barrel-vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed chancel, which is painted throughout, including the ceiling, are particularly rare, dating from the early 12th century. St Mary's has in its chancel "the most complete set of Romanesque

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es in northern Europe", including the ''

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...

'' painting created in about 1120. On the walls of the nave are further images, including a wheel of life, showing the life cycle of man. The nave paintings are worked in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

painted on dry

lime mortar Lime mortar or torching is composed of lime and an aggregate such as sand, mixed with water. The ancient Egyptians were the first to use lime mortars, which they used to plaster their temples. In addition, the Egyptians also incorporated various ...

, unlike those in the chancel which are true frescoes. In 1999

Francis P. Kelly Francis P. Kelly is a British architectural historian and formerly an inspector for English Heritage and Historic England, working in the south west of England. He has contributed to a number of publications on medieval buildings, and his exten ...

initiated a dendrochronology test on the oak roof of the church. The Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory found the roof was the oldest medieval roof in Britain ever tested, dating back to 1120–1150.Treasure House: Church has Britain's oldest roof
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 25 May 1999 The church has an unusually well-preserved interior. The church was restored in 1913 by

Temple Moore Temple Lushington Moore (7 June 1856 – 30 June 1920) was an English architect who practised in London. He is famed for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built between about 1890 and 1917 and also restored many churches and designed c ...

. In the early months of the year, from late February to early March, the churchyard is often covered in

wild daffodil ''Narcissus pseudonarcissus'' (commonly known as wild daffodil or Lent lily) (Welsh: Cennin Pedr) is a perennial flowering plant. This species has pale yellow tepals, with a darker central trumpet. The long, narrow leaves are slightly greyis ...

s. The small village has two notable

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

churches, the other, St Edward's Church, is Grade II* listed. The church, dedicated to

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

, was built (1903–4) as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

by the Lord of the Manor and major landowner,

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, (20 February 1872 – 14 November 1938), styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal politician. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901, a member of the Liberal administrations ...

, because St Mary's was too far away from the main centres of population in the parish and liable to flooding. The newer church was built to the design of

Randall Wells Albert Randall Wells (1877–1942) was an English Arts and Crafts movement, Arts and Crafts architect, craftsman and inventor. He was the son of an architect, Arthur Wells of Hastings. After a practical training in joinery and founding as well a ...

. St Edward's became the parish church following the redundancy of St Mary's in 1975.

Gallery

File:Interior of Kempley Church - geograph.org.uk - 443154.jpg, Interior of St Mary's File:Wall paintings, Kempley Church - geograph.org.uk - 443160.jpg, Christ in Majesty in a lobed

mandorla A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in trad ...

on the chancel ceiling File:St Marys, Kempley - geograph.org.uk - 957461.jpg File:Detail of Mural, Kempley Church - geograph.org.uk - 1373640.jpg File:12th Century Door, Kempley Church - geograph.org.uk - 1373638.jpg, 12th Century Door File:Parish Chest in St. Mary's Church, Kempley - geograph.org.uk - 550586.jpg, Parish chest

References

External links

English Heritage; St Mary's Church, KempleyFriends of Kempley Churches
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kempley, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Gloucestershire Forest of Dean Grade I listed churches in Gloucestershire Redundant churches