The Church of St Mary the Virgin 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

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud (district), Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The t ...

, England, and 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 ...

. 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 ...

; it has a separate tower, also Grade I listed.

History and description

There was probably a Saxon church, since stones reused in the present church have Saxon carving. The present tower, erected in the 18th century, was built on the site of the tower of a medieval church, thought to be where the Saxon building stood."The Early History of The Church and Castle Sites at Berkeley"
St Mary's, Berkeley. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

Robert Fitzharding Robert Fitzharding (c. 1095–1170) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman from Bristol who was granted the feudal barony of Berkeley in Gloucestershire. He rebuilt Berkeley Castle, and founded the Berkeley family which still occupies it today. He was a ...

, in the 12th century, is thought to have built a church on the site of the present church. The south door and the font remains from this building; otherwise the oldest parts of the building date from 1225 to 1250, notably 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 west front. The west end of 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 ...

is also of this period; the east end was extended about 1300. During the 14th century the south and north aisles were rebuilt, and the north door was created. The large

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 of the 15th century."The Development of the Present Church Building"
St Mary's, Berkeley. Retrieved 29 August 2021. The Berkeley burial chapel, built about 1450 by

James Berkeley James Berkeley may refer to: * James Berkeley (bishop) (died 1327), medieval bishop of Exeter *James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (c. 1394–1463), "James the Just", English peer *James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley Vice-Admiral James Berkele ...

, 11th Baron Berkeley by tenure and 1st Baron Berkeley by writ (c. 1394–1463), is still owned by the Berkeley family and is not open to the public. It is in the south-east corner, in

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style. There is an

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

ed arch over the doorway holding the Berkeley arms.

Wall paintings

Medieval wall paintings were revealed by removal of whitewash, during restoration of 1865–66 by

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

supervised by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

. There are patterns in red and black, and fragments of a painting over the chancel arch probably representing the

Last Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

. The decoration seen today is largely 19th-century overpainting of the original.

Monuments

Lord Thomas and Lady Katherine Berkeley Effigies

The tomb of James Berkeley, 11th Baron Berkeley, and his second son James, is between the chancel and the burial chapel. The tomb of Thomas Berkeley, 8th Baron Berkeley by tenure (died 1361) and his wife

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

(died 1385) is in the south-east of the nave. There is a memorial tablet to

Edward Jenner Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...

on the south wall.

Tower

The separate church tower was built in 1753, on the site of the original tower. It is in

Gothic survival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style. There are ten bells, on a metal bell frame installed in 1899. The earliest, the 7th (A), was made in 1700; the latest, the treble (G) and second (F), made in 1921, were given by the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Association of Change Ringers as a memorial to members who fell in the Great War."Features"
St Mary's, Berkeley. Retrieved 14 September 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Church of St Mary Church of St Mary Grade I listed churches in Gloucestershire Church of England church buildings in Gloucestershire Diocese of Gloucester

History and description

Wall paintings

Monuments

Tower

See also

References