No. 35                       St Mary’s Church

At the time of the Norman Conquest St Marys, St Martins, St Botolphs and All Saints were separate parishes. St Marys and St Botolphs were joined together in 1311 and St Martins remained on its own until all four parishes came together in 1731.

The chancel and north chapel of the church of St Marys were built in 1486 by Bartholomew White.  He died in 1495 and was buried with his two wives in the chapel. His son Edmund and his wife Elizabeth died of the ‘sweating sickness’(The Black Plague) and are buried in the chancel. Notice their brasses on the Chancel floor.

Notice inside the church:- 

• The fragments of painted medieval glass-found in the east window of the north chapel. The Puritans destroyed the beautiful glass in this church as Henry VIII did at All Saints.
• The ancient oak chest with three locks. Keys are held by the vicar and two churchwardens who had to be present when it was opened. It was of ‘great antiquity’at the time of the Reformation.
• The lectern made partly from dog rails, once part of the Laudian Altar Rail.
• The hole in the porch wall, through which a rail was fixed to prevent the parsons stock from entering the church, when they grazed in the churchyard.
• The Judas window – in the door.
• The font – this is some 500 years old.
• The door handle with its 2 lizards, emblems of good luck to those who enter. There is an illustration of this in the British Museum.