St. Edward, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

Description

The church of St. Edward, said to have been rebuilt by Ailmore or AEthelmer, Earl of Cornwall and Devon, in the reign of Ethelred, is a handsome and spacious edifice of stone, in the Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, transepts, north and south porches and an embattled tower on the south side, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 8 bells, each of the bells bears an inscription: the east and west windows are stained, land there are 17 other stained windows: in the chancel are sedilia and a piscina with canopy, and in the north transept is a memorial window to Major-General Raikes, d. 1880; there are several other memorials to members of the Chamberlayne family, descendants of the Norman family of Tankerville, including John Chamberlayne, 1677; John Chamberlayne, 1714; Rev. John Chamberlayne, 1756, and Joseph Chamberlayne-Chamberlayne, 1874: Captain Hastings Keyt, who was killed in a fight which took place at Stow between the Royalists and Parliamentary forces in 1645, was buried in the chancel: over the communion table is a large painting of the "Crucifixion," by Gaspard de Grayer, a Flemish artist, dated 1610, and presented to the church in 1838 by Joseph Chamberlayne-Chamberlayne esq.: the brass eagle lectern was presented in 1900 by Mr. Mark Hookham: the church has been restored since 1873, at a cost of £500, and new heating apparatus was provided in 1900 at a cost of over £200 by the late Capt. Piers Thursby: in 1901 a chancel screen was erected as a memorial to the late Mr. Paul Auberbin, and new oak choir desks were presented at a cost of £70 by J. H. Hewitt esq.: in 1903 a new organ was provided at a cost of £425: the church affords sittings for 600 persons.

Church Records

The register dates from the year 1558.