St Mary's Church is a Grade II listed Anglican parish church in the village of

Wix Wix may refer to: Computing * WiX (Windows Installer XML Toolset), a software toolset * Wix.com, an Israeli software company providing cloud-based web development services Places * Wix, Essex, United Kingdom * Vicques, Switzerland, formerly O ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. Formerly associated with a priory from the Middle Ages, the present church dates largely from the 18th century.

Wix Priory

The Priory of St Mary was a

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nunnery founded in by brothers Walter Mascherell, Alexander de Wix and their sister Edith, who were the children of Walter the Deacon, who owned much of the area in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The priory incorporated a church which had existed at the location since . The priory was never large, containing only around ten nuns, but was still highly influential in the immediate vicinity. It owned large areas of land in Wix and much of the surrounding countryside. It held the status of a manor in its own right, and the tenants of its

copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ma ...

s in Wix were obliged to perform manorial service. By the time of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

(1381), this was generating friction, and during the revolt, the priory was attacked by its angry villagers, who destroyed its manorial rolls which detailed their obligations to it. After the Revolt had ended, those responsible were evicted by the prioress, who then fined each one before allowing them to return. The priory remained in operation until the 16th century, though it became increasingly run down. In 1525, it was shut down by

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...

, being one of 30 small religious houses which were closed to provide funding for The King's School, Ipswich, and the Oxford institution now known as Christ Church. After its closure, the priory was demolished, leaving only the church. The only remains of the priory which can still be seen are the now-blocked 13th-century arches which form the church's north wall.

Later history

The church was later restored and mostly rebuilt in 1744, then again in 1888, with much of the original limestone and rubble composition being replaced in brick. Listed status was granted in 1966. The church has a free-standing bell frame, which once contained three bells, though now has only one, dating from the 15th century. An attempt was made in 1975 to steal the bell, which resulted in the frame being replaced with a modern design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wix, Saint Mary Grade II listed churches in Essex 12th-century church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1888 Tendring 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom