St Mary's Parish Church is a red brick gothic style

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 ...

in the parish of Upton cum Chalvey in the

borough of Slough The Borough of Slough is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, Southern England. It is governed by Slough Borough Council. The borough ...

and the county of Berkshire in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Built between 1876–8 to a design by

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of George Gilbert Scott and his wife Caroline (). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles Gilbert Scott were also prominent ...

and partly funded through a personal donation by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, it was again enlarged in 1911–1913, and is protected as 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 ...

. The grounds contain the grade II listed war memorial by the west door of the church, inscribed with over 300 names of the dead from Slough in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

World Wars. The walls and gates of the church yard are also protected grade II listed features. The church is located centrally in the parish, serving the Slough town centre. The church is linked to two schools in the area, Saint Mary's Church of England Primary School, in Upton, and Slough and Eton Church of England Secondary School, in Chalvey. The building regularly plays host to musical concerts, often including accompaniment on the organ

Organ

The church contains a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

in the English Romantic style, built in 1912 by

Norman and Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he wen ...

. It features three manuals, 37 stops and over 2,400 pipes. It is pitched to the French diapason. At its dedication it was played by noted organist and composer Sir Walter Parratt.

Bells

The church tower is home to a

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of ten bells, the tenor weighing 17½ cwt. The original bells were cast in 1619 by Richard Eldridge, of which only one survives. The nine newer bells were all cast by the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

, the last two being added after the others as a memorial donation in 1949.

Notable people

* A

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window was designed in 1915 for St Mary's by artist and poet Alfred Wolmark. * The church hosted the funeral of Letty Lind in 1923. * A lost work of

Eric Fogg Charles William Eric Fogg (21 February 190319 December 1939) was an English composer, conductor and BBC broadcaster. His early works were influenced by Igor Stravinsky, though his later pieces owe more to Granville Bantock and Richard Strauss an ...

, ''The Seasons'', was re-scored and performed at St Mary's Church on 13 September 2003 to celebrate the centenary of Fogg's birth.

Parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey

St Mary's is linked within the parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey with two other churches: the Grade 1 -listed St Laurence's, in Upton, to the east, and the church of St Peter in

Chalvey Chalvey () is a former village, which is now a suburb of Slough, in the unitary authority of Slough in Berkshire, England. It was transferred to Berkshire from Buckinghamshire in 1974. It was first recorded in 1217 by an Old English word meanin ...

, to the west.

In the News

It has been reportedSlough Express
/ref> that a woman was raped in the church yard at approximately 7:45pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. In the following month, three men were arrested and questioned by the police and subsequently released without charge. In February, the police renewed a call for anyone who may have information to come forward.

References

External links

St Mary's Parish Church website

Aerial view of the church, 1935.
(Almost all of the buildings in the surrounding area have since been demolished.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marys Parish Church Slough Buildings and structures in Slough Church of England church buildings in Berkshire 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

Churches completed in 1878