The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Fawsley Fawsley is a hamlet and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England.- OS Explorer Map 207: Newport Pagnell & Northampton South (1:25 000) The population at the 2001 census was 32. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England. It serves the parish of Fawsley under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Peterborough. It was built in the 13th century and is a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

History

The current church dates to the 13th century. It is thought to have been established in 1209 on the site of a wooden

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

church, as a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

under St John the Baptist Church in

Blisworth Blisworth is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal pass ...

. This lasted until the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the

Knightley family There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Knightley family, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. Both creations are extinct. The Knightley family originated at the Staffordshire manor of K ...

demolished most of the village to enclose land for sheep farming. The church was protected from demolition by the fact that it had had land granted to it to establish a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

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 ...

. In 1690, the chancel was rebuilt and later, the church had effigies of the Knightley family installed after a number of them were buried in the church. The church was granted Grade I listed status in 1968 and was amended in 1987. Aided by its isolated location, a considerable amount of the copper covering was stolen from the roofs in 2015, causing some rain damage internally. Fund raising to replace the temporary plastic sheeting is well underway.

Tower and Bells

The tower contains a ring of four bells, which are the oldest ring of four bells that all came from the same foundry at the same time. Casting of the bells is ascribed to W. Chamberlain of London in about 1440. The inscriptions cast on the bells are: ::Treble: SANCTE BOTOLFE ORA PRO NOBIS ::2. IN MULTIS ANNIS RESONET CAMPANA JOHANNIS ::3. SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENDICTUM ::Tenor: JOHANNES EST NOMEN EIUS All four bells also have three identity stamps:
North’s # 18
a cross inscribed in a quarter ihu.merci.ladi.help on an octagonal base
North’s # 19
crossed keys, fish, bell, tea pot, sheaf of corn in the quarters on a shield
North’s # 20
letter m with mast and streamer and sideways “Y” on a shield All bells retain their cast canons. The timber frame dates from the early 17th century, and was repaired by

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 ...

in 1965/6 when the four bells were quarter turned, renovated with new independent crown staples, new fittings for swing chiming consisting of seasoned-elm headstocks, wrought-iron levers, steel gudgeons, fully enclosed ball bearings, clappers with new joints and ball-bearing rollers. In 1992, the frame was strengthened further by volunteers to a design by Eayre and Smith Ltd to allow for

full circle ringing Full circle ringing is a technique of ringing a tower bell such that it swings in a complete circle from mouth upwards to mouth upwards and then back again repetitively. English full-circle ringing technique Full-circle tower bell ringing in ...

and the necessary additional fittings provided. A service of thanksgiving was held on 26 September 1992.

Washington family

In 1720, the

coat of arms of the Washington family The first coat of arms of a member of the Washington family is first documented in the 14th century, borne by one of the male Washington family members of Washington Old Hall in County Durham, England. The design (three red stars over ...

was noted as being carved into the stone outside the entrance, possibly because Reverend Lawrence Washington, the great-great-grandfather of

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, owned the estate in the area that included the church. The shield was later hidden behind stones but was rediscovered in 1885 and protected with a glass case. The church also has stained-glass windows bearing the Washington family arms which were removed from

Sulgrave Manor Sulgrave Manor is a mid-16th century Tudor architecture, Tudor hall house in Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, UK, built by Lawrence Washington, the 3rd great-grandfather of George Washington, first President of the United States. The manor passed o ...

, the Washingtons' ancestral home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawsley, Church of Saint Mary the Virgin Grade I listed churches in Northamptonshire Church of England church buildings in Northamptonshire 13th-century church buildings in England