The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

for

Stotfold Stotfold is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The town covers and the River Ivel passes through the town. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 9,014. The wider built-up area ...

and nearby Fairfield in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. The church comes under the

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

and is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History

The present building dates from at least 1150 and was granted to

Chicksands Priory Chicksands Priory is a former monastic house at Chicksands in Bedfordshire. History The Gilbertine priory of Chicksands was founded about 1152 by Rohese, Countess of Essex, and her second husband Payn de Beauchamp, Baron of Bedford. Payn ...

by Payn de Beauchamp, founder of the Priory. This church was probably preceded by a series of wooden Saxon churches on the same site, because in about 1890 excavations in the nave of the present church revealed a Saxon coffin containing human bones. 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 ...

was built in 1150 and there are traces of a transept chapel in the north-east aisle. The church is built of flint with Ashwell

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble chalk in lowe ...

stone dressings to the

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es and is mainly in the Early Perpendicular style. In 1320 a north aisle was added to the structure which took in this transept chapel. In about 1370 part of the south aisle was extended to its present size by piercing the side walls with arches to open it up. The original outer facing can still be seen on the two thick piers, which were left as supports on either side. In about 1450 the tower was added and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

widened, and it is believed that the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

also dates from this time and is octagonal and panelled. The

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

walls and windows were added in about 1480 and the thatched nave roof was replaced with lead. The mediaeval glass was destroyed during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

apart from a few fragments in one of the windows of the north aisle. St Marys Church Stotfold Wall Painting

In about 1824 much work was done at the church which included plastering the roof of the north aisle and replacing both the mediaeval carvings and the 400 year-old pews, the latter being done by local contractor William Seymour of

Arlesey Arlesey ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is near the border with Hertfordshire, about north-west of Letchworth Garden City, north of Hitchin and south of Biggleswade. Arlesey ra ...

. At the same time the old paintings on the walls of St. George and the Dragon, St. Michael weighing souls, etc.,Vol 27, November 1827
''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'' -

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

pg 401 were either whitewashed over or destroyed and the walls covered with wooden panelling; this panelling was removed in 1932. The chancel was rebuilt in 1890 and the floor raised by seven inches. The north porch was demolished for reasons now unknown. A clock was added to the tower in 1910 as a memorial to Rev. John Holding, who is also commemorated by the stained glass in the east window.

Notable clergy

John Brass (1790–1833), a clergyman, classicist and educational writer was priest at the church from 1824 until his death in 1833. Joseph Finch Fenn was priest at the church from 1847 to 1860 in which year he was succeeded by the

Greek Testament (''The New Testament in Greek'') is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek published by ''Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft'' (German Bible Society), forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical crit ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

Arthur Ayres Ellis Arthur Ayres Ellis (1830 – 22 March 1887) was a Greek Testament Biblical criticism, critic. Arthur Ayres Ellis was born in 1830 in Birmingham, the son of Charles Ellis of Birmingham. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, unde ...

who remained at the church until his death in 1887.

The bells

Originally the tower housed five bells but one was sold to the parish at nearby

and another went to

Astwick Astwick is a hamlet and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England. It lies south-east of the county town of Bedford. Its population is included within Stotfold civil parish. Geography Astwick is b ...

. A bell made by

Miles Graye Miles Graye was a dynasty of English bell-founders; who had foundries in Colchester and Saffron Walden in Essex, during the 17th-century. It is believed that the family cast over 415 bells, many of which remain in use today.

in 1651 was cracked and another made by Thomas Russell in 1740 was out of tune. In 1948

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

recast the Miles Graye bell and supplied three new bells. The cost of this work was covered by public subscription in thanksgiving for the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These five bells were tuned to the oldest surviving bell in the chamber dated 1484. The last two bells of the current eight-bell peal were added in 1976, again by public subscription.

Gallery

File:St Marys Church, Stotfold Nave.jpg, View down the

towards the

File:St Marys Church Stotfold Screen.jpg, The former

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

is at the church's west end File:St Marys Church Stotfold Font.jpg, The

dates to about 1450 File:St Marys Church Stotfold Glass.jpg, The remains of the medieval glass File:St Marys Church Stotfold Arches.jpg, The arches were added in c.1370 when the church was widened

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stotfold, St Mary's church Church of England church buildings in Bedfordshire Grade II listed churches in Bedfordshire Church of St Mary