The Church of St Mary and All Saints is an
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church in the village of
Droxford
Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England.
Geography
The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon ...
, in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, England. It is in the
Diocese of Portsmouth, and is one of the churches of the Meon Bridge Benefice. The building is
Grade I 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, Hi ...
;
the earliest parts of the church date from the
Norman period.
History and description
St
Wilfrid
Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and beca ...
is associated with the founding of churches in the
Meon Valley in the 7th century.
"Introduction"
''The Meon Valley Pilgrimage Trail''. Retrieved 22 September 2021. It is thought however that the original church at Droxford was built at the time of King Egbert of Wessex, who in 826 granted land at "Drocenesford" to the monks at Winchester Monastery.["St Mary and All Saints Church, Droxford"]
''The Meon Valley Pilgrimage Trail''. Retrieved 21 September 2021. The oldest parts of the present church, 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 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 ...
, are 12th-century. The north aisle and chapel were added in the late 12th century; the south aisle and chapel were added in the 13th century.['Parishes: Droxford', in ''A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3'', ed. William Page (London, 1908), pp. 284-288]
British History Online. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
The Norman chancel arch has two orders on the nave side, the inner having a zigzag pattern; on the chancel side there is one plain order. The north and south doors in the nave, moved from their original positions, have Norman arches with zigzag and other decoration. The nave, of which the north and south sides were originally the walls of the church, has three bays, the arcades having pointed arches.[
]
15th century and later
The aisles were rebuilt in the 15th or early 16th century. The tower was built, perhaps replacing an earlier tower, in 1599. The wooden altar rail
The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...
, with balustrades of turned shafts, is of the 17th century.[
In the 18th century there was renovation of the roofs of the nave and chancel, and ceilings were added. The current pews were added in 1847.][ A stained glass window by Martin Travers was added in 1938 with a second by Carl Johannes Edwards added in 1962.]
South chapel
The 19th-century stained glass window in the south chapel includes an image of St Wilfrid with the builders of the church.[
In the south chapel there is a tomb with an effigy in Purbeck marble of a lady, thought to be the mother of John Drokensford (died 1329) who became Bishop of Bath and Wells. The tomb, found in a local meadow in 1820, is thought to have been removed from the church in an earlier period.][
]
See also
* Corhampton Church
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Droxford, Church of St Mary and All Saints
Grade I listed churches in Hampshire
Church of England church buildings in Hampshire
English churches with Norman architecture