St Michael and All Angels' Church is a Grade: II* listed

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 ...

church in the

Hughenden Valley Hughenden Valley (formerly called Hughenden or Hitchendon) is an extensive village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, just to the north of High Wycombe. It is almost 8,000 acres (32 km2) in size, divided mainly between arable and ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, England, near to

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

. It is closely associated with the nearby

Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire, England, is a Victorian mansion, with earlier origins, that served as the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. It is now owned by the National Trust and o ...

and the former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

who is buried in the churchyard. The church stands on land owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

but the church and churchyard belong to 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 ...

History

According to early records, a church existed on this site in the 12th century, built by

Geoffrey de Clinton Geoffrey de Clinton (died c. 1134) was an Anglo-Norman noble, chamberlain and treasurer to King Henry I of England. He was foremost amongst the men king Henry "raised from the dust". He married Lescelina. Life Clinton's family origins are a littl ...

between 1100 and 1135. Monks established a small

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

here in the building which is today used as a parish hall, Church House. The church itself is mediaeval in origin and this original building now forms the chancel and north chapel of the present building. In 1848

purchased

. The church was restored and extended between 1874 and 1890. Disraeli was British Prime Minister twice, in 1868 and 1874–80, and was made

Earl of Beaconsfield Earl of Beaconsfield, of Hughenden in the County of Buckingham, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, a favourite of Queen Victoria. Victoria favoured Disraeli's Tory poli ...

in 1876. He died in 1881 and was buried in the family vault along with his wife Lady Beaconsfield (died 1872) which is located at the west wall of the church. Royal protocol did not permit

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

to attend the private funeral, but she visited the tomb a few days later to pay her respects.

Architecture

The exterior walls of St Michael and All Angels are of flint with stone dressings and the roofs are tiled. St Michael and All Angels 20080726-06

The oldest part of the church is the

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 formed from the original mediaeval body of the church. When the church extension work was carried out, the floor was covered with ceramic tiles designed by

Edward William Godwin Edward William Godwin (26 May 1833, Bristol – 6 October 1886, London) was a progressive English architect-designer, who began his career working in the strongly polychromatic " Ruskinian Gothic" style of mid-Victorian Britain, inspired by ...

and the walls decorated with 1881 wall paintings in the

Aesthetic Movement Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be prod ...

style by

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne were an English firm who produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–82) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371. ...

that depict the Nativity, the Four Evangelists and the

Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the su ...

. A memorial to Disraeli was erected by Queen Victoria on the north side of the chancel following his death. It was the only memorial to be erected by a reigning monarch to one of her subjects in an English parish church. The inscription reads: The Banner and Insignia of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

hanging beside the memorial originate from

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

. Among the

stained-glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows are works by

Thomas Willement Thomas Willement (18 July 1786 – 10 March 1871) was an English stained glass artist, called "the father of Victorian stained glass", active from 1811 to 1865. Biography Willement was born at St Marylebone, London. Like many early 19th centu ...

and

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

, including their 1881 East Window depicting

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 ...

which was installed as another memorial to Disraeli. The ornately carved

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

(c. 1891) is the work of

Thomas Earp Thomas Earp may refer to: * Thomas Earp (politician) * Thomas Earp (sculptor) Thomas Earp (1828–1893) was a British sculptor and architectural carver who was active in the late 19th century. His best known work is his 1863 reproduction of t ...

in the High Victorian style and features effigies of

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

s in Gothic arches. The memorials in the church include three recumbent effigies of knights, one lying cross-legged; although apparently in the style of the 13th century, the effigies have been ascertained to date from the 16th century and are thought to have been sculpted as fabricated evidence of the pedigree of the

Wellesbourne Wellesbourne is a large village in the civil parish of Wellesbourne and Walton, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of the UK. In the 2021 census the parish, which also includes the hamlet of Walton, had a population of ...

family as descendants of

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

. File:St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden, Bucks - Effigy - geograph.org.uk - 1116590.jpg, One of the effigies of knights File:St Michael and All Angels 20080726-11.jpg, The Nativity, wall painting in the chancel File:St Michael and All Angels 20080726-14.jpg, Pulpit featuring reliefs of archangels, from left:

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

Uriel Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is mentio ...

File:East Window, St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden.jpg, "Christ in Majesty", East Window in the chancel File:St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden, Bucks - Wall painting in chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1116589.jpg, The evangelists

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

File:St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden, Bucks - Wall painting in chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1116588.jpg, The evangelists

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

and Johh

Use in film and television

St. Michael and All Angels' Church featured in the title sequence of Gerry Anderson's 1969 Supermarionation/Live Action television series ''

The Secret Service ''The Secret Service'' is a 1969 British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of Father Stanley Unwin, a pupp ...

''. It also featured briefly in the film ''

Johnny English ''Johnny English'' is a 2003 spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the ...

'', in the funeral scene where a bomb kills all of Britain's secret agents.

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

filmed a scene from the film ''

Victoria & Abdul ''Victoria & Abdul'' is a 2017 British biographical historical drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen V ...

'' in the grounds of the church – another scene was filmed in the manor house.

References

External links

Official Church WebsiteSt Michael and All Angels Hughenden Church of England listingHughenden Manor
(National Trust) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughenden, Michael and All Angels Grade II* listed churches in Buckinghamshire Church of England church buildings in Buckinghamshire English Gothic architecture in Buckinghamshire 12th-century church buildings in England 19th-century Church of England church buildings Gothic Revival architecture in Buckinghamshire Benjamin Disraeli