St Mary's Church, Brook 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

Brook, Isle of Wight Brook is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brighstone, on the Isle of Wight, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 156. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Brighstone. Background Brook is s ...

History

The current church dates from 1864. It is by the architec
Willoughby Mullins
and was funded by the wealthy landowner and industrialist Charles Seely MP, whose estate contained the village. There are memorials to the family in the church. St Mary's replaced a 13th Century church destroyed in a fire. The arch from the porch to the nave is all that remains of the mediaeval church. Situated on a knoll just above the village of Brook, St Mary's has been described as "one of the best preserved small Victorian churches in the country." It's "fine interior decorations ... remain in beautiful condition." The interior walls were never plastered and this gave according to the architectural critic, Nicholas Pevsner, a "striking" effect. The small tower contains a set of 8

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

. The church, and the village below, have also a close association with th
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
There were RNLI funded lifeboats in the village of Brook from 1851 through to 1937. The Service Boards for the lifeboats hang in St Mary's, behind the font. The Lifeboats are also commemorated in a memorial a
Brook Village Hall
The churchyard contains six Commonwealth war graves, two

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 ...

and, from

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 ...

, three unidentified Merchant Navy seamen whose bodies had been washed ashore. It also contains the grave of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Squadron Leader, Nigel Seely (1902–1943), son of the politician and industrialist

Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet Sir Charles Hilton Seely, 2nd Baronet, VD, KGStJ (7 July 1859 – 26 February 1926), was a British industrialist, landowner and Liberal Unionist (later Liberal Party) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1895 to 19 ...

. Col. Harry Gore-Browne VC is also buried in the churchyard. Gore-Browne was the son-in-law of Charles Seely, having married his daughter Jane. He won the Victoria Cross aged 26 during the Indian Mutiny. He later ran the Seely estates in the West Wight. A memorial to those killed in a 1957 flying boat crash also stands in the churchyard.

Parish status

The church is grouped with: * St Mary's Church, Brighstone *St Mary's Church, Brook * St Peter and St Paul's Church, Mottistone

Organ

The church has a two manual organ dating from 1867 by Bevington. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

References

External links

Interior and exterior photographs of St Mary's
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brook, St Mary's Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight Grade II listed buildings on the Isle of Wight

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...