St Mary's Church is a

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 ...

in 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, ...

located in

Brading The ancient 'Kynges Towne' of Brading is the main town of the civil parishes in England, civil parish of the same name. The ecclesiastical parish of Brading used to cover about a tenth of the Isle of Wight. The civil parish now includes the to ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

History

The church is medieval dating from the twelfth century. At this church the Rev. Legh Richmond is thought to have originated the now globally popular idea of using boards with movable numbers to indicate hymn numbers during church services. The 13th-century tower is of a very unusual style in that it is built on four piers at the entrance to the church. This is one of only four in examples in Britain. The tower contains a ring of 8 bells which the heaviest weighs 10.5cwt in the key of G. The oldest bell was made in 1594. The current church building has aspects dating from the late 12th century onward, with the majority of the present building resulting from the alterations of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Oglander Chapel on the eastern end of the south aisle is the resting place of members of that family and includes two elaborately carved and painted wooden effigies of knights placed upon two of the tombs. Whilst installed by the family itself, their appearance does not represent the accurate historical dress of the time for the family members in the tombs beneath. In the north aisle there are

funerary hatchment A funerary hatchment is a depiction within a black lozenge-shaped frame, generally on a black (''sable'') background, of a deceased's heraldic achievement, that is to say the escutcheon showing the arms, together with the crest and supporters ...

s of the Oglander family on the walls, and two fonts from the 13th and 15th centuries. The churchyard contains the Commonwealth war graves of four

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

soldiers 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 ...

.
CWGC Cemetery report, details from casualty record.

List of incumbents

Legh Richmond Legh Richmond (1772–1827) was a Church of England clergyman and writer. He is noted for tracts, narratives of conversion that innovated in the relation of stories of the poor and female subjects, and which were subsequently much imitated. He wa ...

1798–1805

Parish Status

The church is within a group which includes: * St John the Baptist Church, Yaverland *St Mary's Church, Brading

Organ

The church has a pipe organ by Forster and Andrews dating from 1864. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brading, St Mary Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight Grade I listed churches on the Isle of Wight St Mary's Church