The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in

Meysey Hampton Meysey Hampton (also known as Maisey Hampton or Maiseyhampton) is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the south-east of Gloucester. It lies in the south of the Cotswolds, an Area of Ou ...

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 ...

. It is in the

Diocese of Gloucester The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...

and the

archdeaconry An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...

of Cheltenham. It is a

Grade II* 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 Ir ...

. The church was built in the 13th century, possibly funded by the Knights Templar.

History and present day

The church was consecrated in 1269. It is thought to have been financed by the Knights Templar. The church was extended and some alterations were made to 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. Ov ...

in the 14th century. It was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1872–74 under the direction of the London architect James Brooks. The church has been a Grade II* listed building since 26 November 1958. The grade – the middle of three – is for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built of

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an i ...

with slate roofs. Most of the work is Early English, with later parts

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

. According to

David Verey Sir David John Verey CBE (born 1950) is an English banker and philanthropist. Early life Verey was born on 8 December 1950. He went to school at Eton College and later received a Master of Arts degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge. ...

it is "not a typical Cotswold church". Its plan is

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

with a central tower; 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

are nearly the same length. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s lie to the north and south. There is a porch in the middle of the south wall. The central, square tower is of one stage and has two belfry

lancet arch Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

es on each side. It has a

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

with

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s. The nave and transepts also have lancet windows. The chancel has three two-light windows to the south,

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

-headed windows in an arched surrounds and

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...

-headed windows in a square surrounds. The three-light east window has geometric

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

and a ballflower border.

Interior

Internally, the roof has five bays and has original curved bracing to the

tie beam A tie, strap, tie rod, eyebar, guy-wire, suspension cables, or wire ropes, are examples of linear structural components designed to resist tension. It is the opposite of a strut or column, which is designed to resist compression. Ties may be ...

s. The crossing has simple, matched arches. There

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

is Jacobean, inscribed with "Christian Jacketts, 1622". There is a 17th-century

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

to Dr James Vaulx, with a portrait of him with his wives. Medieval stained glass removed from the church in the 19th century was exhibited at the

Corinium Museum The Corinium Museum, in the Cotswold town of Cirencester in England, has a large collection of objects found in and around the locality. The bulk of the exhibits are from the Roman town of Corinium Dobunnorum, but the museum includes material from ...

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

in 2006.

Churchyard

In the churchyard about south of the church is a group of five 17th- and 18th-century monuments that are listed Grade II. By north side of the church is the

war grave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

of a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

gunner of the Royal Field Artillery.

Parish

Meysey Hampton has long had links with

Marston Meysey Marston Meysey, pronounced and sometimes also spelt Marston Maisey, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, lying northeast of Cricklade on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlet of Marston Hill. Ma ...

, over the county border in Wiltshire but also within the diocese of Gloucester. A chapel was built there in the 13th century and was dependent on St Mary's, although for periods in the 14th and 17th centuries the chapel functioned as a parish church. William Rankin, rector of Meysey Hampton, took on the additional duties of curate of Marston Meysey, thereby uniting the two livings from 1873 to 1882. He instigated the building of a new St James' church at Marston Meysey, designed by Brooks soon after his restoration work at Meysey Hampton. The two benefices were united in 1924, effective on the first vacancy, which occurred in 1937. Today St Mary's is within the area of the South Cotswolds Team Ministry, alongside 21 other churches.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

{{Commons category-inline

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Meysey Hampton, Saint Mary Meysey