St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox church |denomination = [[Church of England]] |name = Priory church of St Mary, Deerhurst |full_name = |other_name = |image = The Anglo-Saxon Priory Church of St Mary, Deerhurst - geograph.org.uk - 987334.jpg |image_size = |alt = |caption = The church seen from the southwest |pushpin_map = Gloucestershire |pushpin_label_position = left |pushpin_map_alt = |relief = |pushpin_mapsize = |map_caption = |coordinates = {{coord|51.967871|-2.190197|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}} |country = [[England]] |location = [[Deerhurst]], Gloucestershire |previous_denomination = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] |churchmanship = |website = [http://severnsidebeneficewithtwyning.org.uk Welcome to the parishes of Severnside and Twyning] |founded =  |founder = |dedication = [[Mary, mother of Jesus|St Mary]] |dedicated = |consecrated = |events = |status = [[parish church]] |functional_status = Active |heritage_designation = [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed]] |designated = 4 July 1960 |architect = |architectural_type = |style = [[Anglo-Saxon architecture|Anglo-Saxon]], [[English Gothic architecture#Early English|Early English]], [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic]], [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular Gothic]] |years_built = 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th centuries |completed = |capacity = |length =  |width =  |height =  |materials = [[rubble masonry]] |parish = Deerhurst with Apperley |deanery = Deanery of Tewkesbury and Winchcombe |archdeaconry = [[Archdeaconry of Cheltenham|Cheltenham]] |diocese = [[Diocese of Gloucester]] |province = [[Province of Canterbury|Canterbury]] |vicar = }}

'''St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst''', is the [[Church of England parish church]] of [[Deerhurst]], Gloucestershire, England. Much of the church is [[Anglo-Saxon architecture|Anglo-Saxon]]. It was built in the 8th century, when Deerhurst was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of [[Mercia]]. It is contemporary with the [[Carolingian Renaissance]] on mainland Europe, which may have influenced it.

The church was restored and altered in the 10th century after the [[Viking Age#England|Viking invasion of England]]. It was enlarged early in the 13th century and altered in the 14th and 15th centuries. The church has been described as "an Anglo-Saxon monument of the first order".{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=16}} It is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1151998 |desc=The Church of St Mary |grade=I |accessdate=8 April 2018}}</ref>

From the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon era]] until the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] St Mary's was the church of a [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] [[priory]].

Deerhurst has a second Anglo-Saxon place of worship, the 11th-century [[Odda's Chapel]], about 200 yards southwest of the church.

==Priory== By AD 804 St Mary's was part of a Benedictine monastery at Deerhurst. In about 1060 King [[Edward the Confessor]] (reigned 1042–66) granted the monastery to the [[Basilica of St Denis|Abbey of St Denis]] in France,{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}} making it an [[alien priory]].

[[File:Donation par Guillaume le Conquérant 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-III-61.jpg|thumb|upright|Document dated 14 April 1069 in which [[William the Conqueror]] confirms the [[Basilica of St Denis|Abbey of St Denis]]' tenure of Deerhurst Priory]] According to the chronicler [[Matthew Paris]] (''circa'' 1200–1259), in 1250 [[Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall]] stayed at St Denis and bought Deerhurst Priory from the [[abbot]]. He took over the priory, dispersed the monks and planned to build a castle at Deerhurst on the bank of the [[River Severn]]. However, the purchase was reversed and by 1264 St Denis abbey again possessed the priory.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

In the 14th century England and France were at war. [[Edward III of England|King Edward III]] seized alien priories in England in 1337, so that their incomes went to him instead of their mother houses in France. In 1345 [[the Crown]] leased Deerhurst priory to a Thomas de Bradeston for £110 a year. In 1389 the priory was let for £200 a year to a Sir John Russell and a [[chaplain]] called William Hitchcock.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

By 1400 [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] had restored the priory to the Abbey of St Denis. But [[Henry VI of England|King Henry VI]] seized the priory in 1443, and four years later granted it to the recently founded [[Eton College]] in Buckinghamshire.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

In 1461 Edward of [[House of York|York]] deposed the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] Henry VI and was crowned [[Edward IV of England|King Edward IV]]. He granted Deerhurst priory to William Buckland, a monk of [[Westminster Abbey]]. But Edward revoked the grant in 1467, claiming that Buckland had appointed only one secular chaplain, had withdrawn hospitality and had wasted the revenues of the priory.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

The King granted the priory to [[Tewkesbury Abbey]] instead, on condition that the abbot maintain a prior and four monks at Deerhurst. In 1467 the priory held the [[Manorialism|manors]] of Deerhurst, [[Coln St. Dennis]], Compton, Hawe, [[Preston-on-Stour]], [[Uckington, Gloucestershire|Uckington]], [[Welford-on-Avon]] and Wolston in Gloucestershire, [[Taynton, Oxfordshire|Taynton]] with La More in Oxfordshire, and the [[Benefice (Catholic)|rectories]] of Deerhurst and Uckington.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

Tewkesbury Abbey and its priories were suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Deerhurst Priory and all of its estates were surrendered to the Crown on 9 January 1540.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}}

==Architecture== ===Anglo-Saxon=== [[File:St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst (4499).jpg|thumb|left|Foundation of the former chancel apse, now demolished]] The earliest parts of St Mary's church are the [[nave]] and [[chancel]], which were built in the 8th century. The nave is narrow and tall: an Anglo-Saxon style seen also at [[Escomb Church|Escomb]], [[Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey|Jarrow]] and [[St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth|Monkwearmouth]] in County Durham.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}} The chancel was a polygonal [[apse]] and is now ruined.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}}{{sfn|Blair|1977|p=186}}

The first addition to the church was probably the west porch, which was originally of two storeys. It is longer east–west than it is north–south, and is divided into two chambers.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}} Its walls include much [[opus spicatum|herringbone masonry]].

Then the first pair of rectangular two-storey [[porticus]] were added, either side of the east end of the nave. A second pair of porticus, west of the first, was added later. The second floor of the porch has two doorways, each with a semicircular arch. One is at the western end on the outside of the church. Over its arch are a square [[Hood mould|hood-mould]] with an animal's head above. This may have led to an outside gallery. The other is at the eastern end facing into the nave. It may have led to a gallery in the nave.{{sfn|Blair|1977|p=189}}

[[File:Deerhurst windows.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bifora (architecture)|Bifora]] on the east wall of the third stage of the tower, seen from the nave]] Next the west porch was raised by the addition of a third storey, and the porticus side chapels were extended westward, parallel with the nave. On the third floor of the tower, on the east side, is a double triangular-headed opening into the [[nave]] with stylised capitals and fluted [[pilaster]]s with reeded decoration.

Below, at first floor level, is a blocked doorway, sited off-centre, which most likely led to a gallery in the nave. [[Corbel]]s just below this doorway tend to support this supposition. There is a triangular window in the east wall of the tower and each of the nave side walls at this level.

All these phases of development were completed before the Viking invasion.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}}

[[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] (''circa'' 1503–1552) claimed that the Vikings burnt Deerhurst. After the invasion, the church was restored in or before AD 970.{{sfn|Page|1907|pp=103–105}} A fourth storey was added to the west porch, making it a tower.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}} The upper stages of the tower have [[Quoin (architecture)|quoin]]s, but not in the Anglo-Saxon long-and-short style.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}} At the same time the present large chancel arch was inserted and the chancel may have been rebuilt.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

===Gothic=== [[File:DEERHURST CHURCH OF ST MARY SOUTH AISLE DETAIL.JPG|thumb|left|Fine [[English Gothic architecture#Early English Gothic|Early English]] masonry in the south arcade]] Around AD 1200 the separate porticus were knocked through and extended westward as north and south [[Aisle#Church architecture|aisles]], running the length of the nave and partly overlapping the west tower. The north aisle seems to have been built first, with the south being added very slightly later. For each aisle a fine three-[[Bay (architecture)|bay]] [[English Gothic architecture#Early English Gothic|Early English]] [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] with [[Molding (decorative)|moulded]] arches was inserted in the nave wall.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}} At an unknown date the apsidal chancel was demolished and the chancel arch walled up.

Above each arcade, windows were inserted in the north and south walls of the nave to create a [[clerestory]]. But the current aisle and clerestory windows are later: [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic]] and late [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular Gothic]].{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

[[File:Stained glass, St. Mary, Deerhurst.jpg|thumb|upright|Part of the west window of the south aisle, with panels representing St [[Catherine of Alexandria]] (left) and St [[Ælfheah of Canterbury|Alphege]] (right)]] The west window of the south aisle includes some panels of [[Medieval stained glass]]. One is from about 1300–40 and is a representation of St [[Catherine of Alexandria]]. Next to it is a larger panel from about 1450 which is a representation of St [[Ælfheah of Canterbury|Alphege]] (''circa'' AD 953–1012).{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=169}} Alphege started his religious life by entering Deerhurst monastery as a boy.

===Gothic Revival=== [[William Wailes]] made the stained glass in the west window of the north aisle in 1853. [[Clayton and Bell]] made the stained glass in one of the north windows of the north aisle in 1861. The pulpit was also made in 1861.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=169}} It was designed by the architect [[William Slater (architect)|William Slater]], who directed a [[Victorian restoration|restoration]] of the church in 1861–63.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

==Role of the west tower== ===Possible first floor chapel=== [[File:Deerhurst St-Marys.jpg|thumb|left|upright|St Mary's from the west, showing the tower]] The first floor of the west tower may have had the same role as that in the [[westwork]] of a Carolingian church. Westworks had an [[altar]] on the first floor, to which access was by flanking [[staircase tower]]s. South of the tower is a later Mediæval spiral staircase that used to lead to the second floor of the tower. The original staircase may have been within the tower.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deerhurst Priory, Gloucestershire |url=https://www.uksouthwest.net/gloucestershire/deerhurst-priory/ |publisher=UK SouthWest |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bagshaw |first1=Steve |last2=Bryant |first2=Richard |last3=Hare |first3=Michael |title=The Discovery of an Anglo-Saxon Painted Figure at St Mary's Church, Deerhurst, Gloucestershire |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |date=2008 |volume=86 |pages=66–109 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500000068 }}</ref>

The twin staircase tower arrangement was included only in the larger Anglo-Saxon churches in England (''e.g.'' possibly [[Old Minster, Winchester|Winchester]] and [[Canterbury Cathedral|Canterbury]]), which have now been lost. Deerhurst may have housed an altar similarly to the Carolingian arrangement, which would account for the position of the door to the side and the triangular window, if the altar was at the centre.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deerhurst |url=http://www.greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/deerhurst.html |publisher=Great English Churches |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref>

===Bells=== The ''[[Regularis Concordia (Winchester)|Regularis Concordia]]'', written about AD 973 as part of the [[English Benedictine Reform]], includes instructions on how bells should be rung for the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] and [[Calendar of saints|holidays]].{{sfn|Blair|1977|p=187}} This is about the time that the height of St Mary's west tower was increased to create the present [[belfry (architecture)|belfry]]. But no Anglo-Saxon bells survive at Deerhurst.

The tower has a [[Ring of bells|ring]] of six bells. Abel [[Rudhall of Gloucester]] cast the second and fourth bells in 1736 and the tenor bell in 1737. Thomas Rudhall cast the third bell in 1771. Thomas II Mears of the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] cast the fifth bell in 1826. [[John Taylor & Co]] of Loughborough, Leicestershire cast the treble bell in 1882.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Deerhurst&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=DEERHURST |title=Deerhurst S Mary |last=Baldwin |first=John |date=13 May 2013 |work=[[Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers]] |publisher=[[Central Council for Church Bell Ringers]] |access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

==Sculpture== [[File:Saxon wolf's head, Deerhurst - geograph.org.uk - 1732981.jpg|thumb|upright|One of the animal-head label-stops inside the church]] Entrance to the church is through the west porch, which now forms the lower stages of the west tower. The present west doorway is not the original, but an animal's head above it remains. Animal head [[Hood mould|label-stops]] with spiral decoration have been moved from outside to the inner doorway. Others form the label-stops of the chancel arch at the end of the nave. There are similar Anglo-Saxon animal heads in the parish churches of [[Alkborough]] in Lincolnshire and [[St John the Baptist's Church, Barnack|Barnack]] in the [[Soke of Peterborough]].{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=167}}

[[File:St Mary's Deerhurst - geograph.org.uk - 1733117.jpg|thumb|left|upright|9th-century Anglo-Saxon font]] Inside the porch, on the ground floor over the inner doorway, is an 8th-century relief of the [[Madonna (art)|Virgin and Child]]. On the ruined apse is a 10th-century relief of an angel, showing [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]] influence.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

In the north aisle is the [[baptismal font]], which is one of the oldest in England. The bowl and upper part of the stem are cylindrical. The lower part of the stem is octagonal and plain, as if it were meant to slot into the floor. The bowl is decorated with a broad band of double trumpet-spirals, with narrower bands of [[scrollwork|vine scrolls]] above and below.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

This is the only known example of a double spiral pattern on a font. However, similar decoration is found on 9th-century English manuscripts and on a pendant found in the [[Trewhiddle#The Trewhiddle Hoard|Trewhiddle Hoard]] in Cornwall. On this basis Sir [[Alfred Clapham]] (1885–1950) dated the font to the 9th century.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=168}}

==Monuments== [[File:Cassy gri 33125008701571 0174.jpg|thumb|Monumental brass to John Cassy and his wife]] In the church is a double [[monumental brass]] to Sir John Cassey (or Cassy) and his wife (''circa'' 1400). Cassey was [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] to [[Richard II of England|King Richard II]]. In the chancel are early 16th-century brasses of two ladies.{{sfn|Verey|1970|p=169}} A plaque commemorates the composer [[George Butterworth]], MC (1885–1916), whose grandfather, the Rev George Butterworth, had been vicar of St Mary's in the previous century.<ref>{{cite web |title=George S. Kaye Butterworth, Hugh Montagu Butterworth |url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/225715/ |publisher=War Memorials Online |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> The plaque was erected by the composer's father, Sir Alexander Butterworth.

==Burials== *[[Æthelmund]], [[Ealdorman]] of [[Hwicce]], may be buried in the church.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kneen |first1=Maggie |title=Ninth-century Deerhurst: An Exploration of Colour |journal=Glevensis |date=2015 |volume=48 |pages=18–29 |url=http://www.glosarch.org.uk/Glev%2048.pdf}}</ref>

In the churchyard are [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|war graves]] of two [[World War I|First World War]] soldiers:<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/38666/deerhurst-(st.-mary)-churchyard/ |title=Deerhurst (St. Mary) Churchyard |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|CWGC]] |access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> Pte Lewis Cox, [[Royal Army Medical Corps|RAMC]], who died in 1917<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/358986/cox,-lewis-alfred/ |title=Cox, Lewis Alfred |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|CWGC]] |access-date=9 April 2018}}</ref> and Pte George Chalk, [[Royal Army Service Corps|RASC]], who died in 1919.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/358985/chalk,-george/ |title=Chalk, George |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|CWGC]] |access-date=9 April 2018}}</ref>

*Elizabeth Brugge (daughter of [[Thomas Brugge, 5th Baron Chandos]])

==See also== *[[List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=RN |year=2005 |title=Anglo-Saxon Sculptures at Deerhurst |place=Bristol |publisher=Friends of Deerhurst Church |isbn=978-0952119999 }} *{{cite book |last=Blair |first=Peter Hunter |author-link=Peter Hunter Blair |year=1977 |orig-year=1956 |title=An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England |edition=2nd |place=Cambridge and London |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-29219-0 |pages=185–189 }} *{{cite book |last=Conant |first=KJ |author-link=Kenneth John Conant |year=1992 |orig-year=1959 |title=Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800–1200 |edition=4th |place=New Haven |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0140560138 }}{{page needed|date=April 2018}} *{{cite book |editor-last=Elrington |editor-first=CR |editor-link=Christopher Elrington |year=1968 |chapter=Deerhurst |title=A History of the County of Gloucester |volume=VIII |series=[[Victoria County History]] |place=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] for the [[Institute of Historical Research]] |isbn=978-0197227244 |pages=34–49 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol8/pp34-49 }} *{{cite book |last=Fernie |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Fernie |year=1983 |title=The Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons |place=London |publisher=[[Pavilion Books|BT Batsford]] |isbn=978-0713415827 }}{{page needed|date=April 2018}} *{{cite book |editor-last=Page |editor-first=William |editor-link=William Page (historian) |year=1907 |chapter=The Priory of Deerhurst |title=A History of the County of Gloucester |volume=II |series=[[Victoria County History]] |place=Westminster |publisher=[[Archibald Constable]] & Co |isbn=978-0712905558 |pages=103–105 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol2/pp103-105 }} *{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=HM |author-link=Harold McCarter Taylor |last2=Taylor |first2=J |year=1965–1978 |title=Anglo-Saxon Architecture |place=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521216920 }}{{page needed|date=April 2018}} *{{cite book |last=Verey |first=David |year=1970 |title=Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |volume=2 |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |pages=16, 166–169 }}

==External links== {{Commons category|St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst}} * [http://www.deerhurstfriends.co.uk/ The Friends of Deerhurst Church]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deerhurst, Saint Mary}} [[Category:9th-century church buildings in England]] [[Category:Church of England church buildings in Gloucestershire]] [[Category:Diocese of Gloucester|Deerhurst Saint Mary]] [[Category:Grade I listed churches in Gloucestershire]] [[Category:Standing Anglo-Saxon churches]]