St Mary & St Lawrence's Church, Stratford Tony

St Mary & St Lawrence's Church
Location	Stratford Tony, Wiltshire, England
Coordinates	51°02′13″N1°52′14″W / 51.03694°N 1.87056°W / 51.03694; -1.87056 Coordinates: 51°02′13″N1°52′14″W / 51.03694°N 1.87056°W / 51.03694; -1.87056
Built	13th century
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence
Designated	23 March 1960 [1]
Reference no.	1181901
Location of St Mary & St Lawrence's Church in Wiltshire

The Church of St Mary & St Lawrence in the village of Stratford Tony, south Wiltshire, England, was built in the 13th century. It stands on the south bank of the River Ebble, accessed from the north down a lane, across the river and up a bank. ^[2]

It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade I listed building, ^[1] and is a redundant church, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust since 1986. ^[2]

Architecture

The chancel dates from the 14th century, and was built on the site of an earlier church. ^{[1] [3]} The low 14th-century west tower is built with large Chilmark stone blocks and flint chequers, and has a pyramid-shaped tiled roof. ^[4] Around the church walls are a collection of gargoyles. ^[1] In the 18th century, the nave was rebuilt in banded brick and flint, ^[1] and in the construction of the north porch a doorway from the 12th or 13th century was reused. ^[4]

Status

The church was declared redundant on 1 October 1984, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 26 March 1986. ^[5] An annual service is held. ^[6]

Interior

Small box pews at the east end of the nave

Looking east

The church has a cylindrical stone font from the 12th or 13th century, and a fine piscina in Purbeck stone from the mid-13th century. ^[4]

The stalls and pews – including box pews with colonnaded tops – are from the 17th century; ^{[7] [8]} some alterations are from the re-ordering of 1882. ^[4]

Memorials include a marble plaque to George Taunton and a wall tablet to Elizabeth Hill who died in 1715. ^[1] The stained glass in the east window was installed by the studio of Charles Eamer Kempe in 1884. ^[2]

In 2012 Loyd Grossman, who is the chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust, visited the church and presented certificates to local school children who had researched the history of the church. ^[9]

Churchyard

There is a large Yew tree in the churchyard with a girth of over 11 feet (3.4 m). ^{[10] [11]}

Among the graves and tombs in the churchyard is a chest tomb to Anthony Bradbury who died in 1845. ^[12]

Former parish

The benefice was united with neighbouring Bishopstone in 1925, with the incumbent to live at Bishopstone, although the parishes remained distinct. ^[13] Later that year, outlying portions of the parish were transferred to the parishes in which they lay, namely Coombe Bissett, Homington and Britford. ^[14] A group ministry was established for the Ebble valley in 1972, ^[15] and today the area is part of the Chalke Valley Churches benefice. ^{[16] [6]}

See also

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Southwest England

References

1. Historic England. "Church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence, Stratford Tony (1181901)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 13 June 2014.
2. "Church of St Mary & St Lawrence, Stratford Tony, Wiltshire". Churches Conservation Trust . Retrieved 11 January 2022.
3. "Stratford Tony Church". The Bishopstone Village Website. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
4. Orbach, Julian; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2021). Wiltshire. The Buildings Of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. p. 682. ISBN   978-0-300-25120-3. OCLC   1201298091.
5. Diocese of Salisbury: All Schemes (PDF). Church Commissioners/Statistics. Church of England. 2011. p. 10. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
6. "Stratford Tony - St Mary and St Lawrence". Chalke Valley Churches. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
7. "Church of St Mary and St Lawrence, Stratford Tony". Visit Wiltshire. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
8. "Through the Nadder and Chalke Valleys". Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
9. Blake, Morwena (28 May 2012). "Pupils meet Loyd Grossman". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
10. "Stratford Tony". Discover Chalke Valley. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
11. Norton, Peter. "Wiltshire Yews: An Inventory of Churchyard Yews Along the Ebble Valley" (PDF). Retrieved 14 October 2010.
12. Historic England. "Bradbury monument, in the Churchyard (1023851)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
13. "No. 33062". The London Gazette . 30 June 1925. pp. 4361–4363.
14. "No. 33118". The London Gazette. 29 December 1925. pp. 8638–8641.
15. "No. 45811". The London Gazette . 26 October 1972. p. 12603.
16. "Bishopstone and Stratford Tony". A Church Near You. The Archbishops' Council. Retrieved 11 January 2022.