Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. Originally built by William Marshall at the end of the twelfth century.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. Originally built by William Marshall at the end of the twelfth century.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. Originally built by William Marshall at the end of the twelfth century.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. Originally built by William Marshall at the end of the twelfth century.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. The isolated gate piers were once on the approach to a grand mansion built by the 1st Earl Craven in the late 17th century.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. The Norman doorway, all that remains of the 12th century church.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall.
The Craven mausoleum in the church yard.

St Mary the Virgin, Hamstead Marshall

Posted 02 February 2023.

This simple church sits quietly removed from the main village of Hamstead Marshall, and just to the west of the remains of what is known as Newbury Castle (though this location is contested)¹. The castle was built without authority by John Marshal during the civil war of 1138 and 1153, a conflict referred to as The Anarchy when Matilda and Stephen fought for the succession to the crown which had been vacated in a somewhat untimely and sloppy manner by the death of King Henry I. The church is mostly 14th and 15th century, only the round-headed Norman south door revealing a previous incarnation in the 12th. The tower built of brick is 17th century. Inside there are still the 18th century box pews, a 17th century three-decker pulpit with sound board and a west gallery which houses the organ. The victorian restoration of 1893 when the south porch was replaced left much of the original church unspoiled. A further restoration in 1929 by Sir Charles Nicholson revealed two long-lost tombstones in the nave, having been covered by a wooden floor, and an Early English chancel arch.

Close by, in the field to the south of the church stand the remnants of the gateways of a grand house The grand mansion built by the 1st Earl Craven to the designs of Balthasar Gerbier from an engraving by Johannes Kyp in 1709. St Mary's church can be seen bottom right.
Public Domain Image.
built in a "Heidelberg style" by William Craven, 1st Earl Craven, in the late 17th century for his beloved Elizabeth, the exiled Queen of Bohemia. The architect was Balthasar Gerbier (it was his tombstone that was uncovered in 1929). The house was destroyed by fire in 1718, and although partially rebuilt it never attained its previous grandeur. By 1813 it had been comprehensively demolished leaving only the brick gate-piers and some walls standing. The grandeur of those gates can be seen in an engraving The wrought iron gates for the original house.
Public Domain Image.

from a book charting the development of English Ironwork.² The Craven mausoleum stands in the churchyard.

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Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hamstead Marshall. North Nave 1: Ss. Luke and Elizabeth.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. St Luke represented as pilgrim.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. St Luke represented as pilgrim.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. St Elizabeth.

Church of St Mary, Hamstead Marshall. St Elizabeth.

South Chancel 2: Ss. Luke and Elizabeth

Posted 02 February 2023.

There is a single window by Percy Bacon and Brothers in St Mary's. The two light window depicts the standing figures of St. Luke and St. Elizabeth, each figure occupying an elaborate niche without side columns. Luke holds a pilgrim's staff and gourd in his left hand, and a scroll in his right. The scroll above reads, "Love thy Neighbour". Elizabeth is dressed in an extravagant blue robe lined in red and edged with gemstones. The scroll above her reads, "Blessed art though among women".

The dedication reads;

The window is signed. "PERCY BACON B^ROS. 11 NEWMAN S^T., LONDON W."

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1. That a castle existed at Newbury is mentioned in William Marshal’s biography, The Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschalis, though it is by no means certain that it existed at this location as is discussed by Elizabeth Chadwick on her blog .
2. Gardner, John Starkie; English ironwork of the XVIIth & XVIIIth centuries; an historical & analytical account of the development of exterior smithcraft; p75. (1911)
3. Historic England Official List Entry.