St Mary's Church, Breamore
| St Mary's | |
|
Breamore, Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| Status: | Parish church |
| |
| Church of England | |
| Diocese of Winchester | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU15331890 |
| Location: | 50°58’9"N, 1°46’59"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
The Church of St Mary in Breamore, Hampshire is an almost complete example of an Anglo-Saxon church,[1] with minor changes of all the medieval periods. It is to be found in the north-west of the county, in the beauteous valley of the River Avon, close by the Wiltshire border.
The church is not in the centre of the village but instead in the grounds of the manor house, Breamore House, which is believed to be where the village originally stood.
The church is a Grade I listed building.[2]
Structure
The building consists of a chancel and aisleless nave separated by square central tower. The east window with net like tracery dates from 1340. There is a "leper window" in the north wall. Seven "double-splayed" Saxon windows remain. The chancel arch and arch in west wall of the tower are 15th century. The tower houses four bells cast in late 16th and early 17th centuries.
There is an Anglo Saxon inscription dating from reign of King Ethelred the Unready (Æthelred II), and a badly mutilated Saxon rood with figures of the Virgin Mary and Saint John. The inscription, written around a section of the chancel arch reads "Her swutelað seo gecwydrædnes ðe", which is Old English, meaning 'Here is published the covenant unto thee'.
The walls of whole flints, with stone dressings; long and short work typical of the period, pilaster strips, quoins An east window has some reticulated 14th century tracery.
On the tower is a tiled roof, pyramidal in shape, as a bell turret. The 15th century provided replacement east and west tower arches, which nevertheless left the original Anglo-Saxon narrow arch to the porticus with the inscription.
Traces of wall paintings have been found. A number of heraldic hatchments and wall monuments are the legacy of a later age.[2]
Outside
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about St Mary's Church, Breamore) |
References
- ↑ "St Mary’s Church, One of England’s most important Anglo-Saxon Churches," by Simon Jenkins
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Heritage List 1094934: Church of St Mary (Grade I listing)
