St Mary's Church, Bentworth
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St Mary's Church 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 situated in the centre of the village of
Bentworth Bentworth is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The nearest town is Alton, Hampshire, Alton, which lies about east of the village. It sits within the East Hampshire Hangers, an area of rolling val ...
, within the
East Hampshire East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Petersfield, although the largest town is Alton. The district also contains the town of Bordon along with many villages and surroundin ...
district of
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. The church lies immediately east of Bentworth's primary school and north-east of the Star Inn on the main road through the village. Parts of the church date from the 11th century and it is a Grade II*
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

There is evidence to suggest that a Saxon church was located here and was rebuilt. The present church has a
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 ...
(the space around the altar for the clergy and choir) that is by , with a north vestry by . The nave roof and chancel arch probably date from the late 12th century and the chancel itself was built in about 1260 together with the lower part of the tower. However, in 1608 the church suffered a "fire happening by lightning from heaven" and some of the earlier structure was damaged. The present church has flint walls with stone dressings and stepped buttresses, a plinth, and corbelled tracer lights in the nave. The west tower was rebuilt in 1890 and has diagonal buttresses with an elaborate arrangement of steps (some with gabled ornamentation), and at the top is a timber turret, surmounted by a
broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...
. A small mural monument at the south-east of the chancel is to Nicholas Holdip, "pastor of the parish" 1606. In the north aisle wall is another mural tablet to "Robert Hunt of Hall Place in this Parish", 1671, with the arms, Azure a bend between two water bougets or with three leopards' heads gules on the bend. The crest is a
talbot Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...
sitting chained to a
halberd A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge), is a two-handed polearm that was in prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It may have a hook or ...
. There are four bells; the treble and second by Joseph Carter, 1601, the third by Henry Knight, 1615, and the tenor by Joseph Carter, 1607. The church became a Grade: II* listed building on 31 July 1963.


Memorials

In Elizabethan times, the poet and writer
George Wither George Wither (11 June 1588 O.S. (21 June 1588 NS) – 2 May 1667 O.S. (12 May 1667 NS)) was a prolific English poet, pamphleteer, satirist and writer of hymns. Wither's long life spanned one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of En ...
(1588–1667) was born in Bentworth and baptised in St. Mary's church. In Victorian times, the author and gay rights campaigner
George Cecil Ives George Cecil Ives (1 October 1867 – 4 June 1950) was an English poet, writer, penal reformer and early homosexual law reform campaigner. Life and career Ives was born at Frankfurt, Kingdom of Prussia, in 1867, the illegitimate son of Gor ...
lived at the post-1832 Bentworth Hall with his mother Emma Gordon-Ives. A memorial to the Ives family is in the churchyard close to the school and has a stone slab for George Ives that reads "George Cecil Ives MA, Author, 1867–1950, Late of Bentworth Hall." There is also a plaque for members of the Ives family inside the church on the north wall. The Hankin Family Tomb in the churchyard, was Grade II listed in 2005. It was made in 1816 of
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
and is a "rectangular chest tomb on a moulded base, with a two-part cover consisting of a low hipped top slab and lower moulded cornice." The panels at the sides contain various inscriptions including the one on the south panel which reads: "Sacred to the memory of John Hankin who departed this life January 12th 1816, aged 55 years", and the one on the north side which reads: "Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, widow of John Hankin, who departed this life September 13th 1831, aged 67 years." The churchyard contains two registered Commonwealth war graves, a soldier of the
East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...
of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
officer 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 ...
.
CWGC Casualty record, Commander Guy L'Estrange Mansfield Sturges.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentworth, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Hampshire, Bentworth
Bentworth Bentworth is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The nearest town is Alton, Hampshire, Alton, which lies about east of the village. It sits within the East Hampshire Hangers, an area of rolling val ...