St. Mary, Uffington, Berkshire
Description
The church of St. Mary is known to have been in course of erection in the time of Faricius, 19th abbot of Abingdon, 1105, to which monastery it was an appendage; of this not a stone remains: the present edifice, known as the Cathedral of the Vale, is a cruciform structure of stone in the Early English style, 1216-30, with beautiful interior details, consisting of spacious chancel, nave, transepts, south porch and central octagonal embattled tower with pinnacles and containing 5 bells and a clock: there was originally a spire, destroyed by lightning Dec. 2nd, 1740: all the windows of the chancel, except a Decorated insertion on the south, are triple and double lancets with excellent shafts and mouldings, and there are sedilia and piscinæ: the east window is stained: on the east side of each transept are recesses, two projecting from the north and one from the south transept; these were originally small chapels and have gable roofs and angular-headed lancet windows, unique and evidently coeval with the rest of the edifice; each also contains a piscina: the south porch has a groined vaulted roof and a parvise, and its original oak door exhibits excellent Early English iron scroll work: there is also a small eastern porch to the south transept and another on the south side of the chancel: in the nave is a good six-foiled circular window: in the north transept is a canopied monument to Edward Archer esq., .ob. 1603, over which is a beautiful triple lancet stained window: in the south transept is a recessed monument with a recumbent effigy to John Saunders esq. of Woolstone J.P. ob. 29 April, 1638, and to Margaret (Evelyn) his wife; beneath is a brass to John and Ann Saunders, ob. 26 December, 1599: on the north wall is a marble table; recording the repair of the church, "long-ruined," by Richard Saunders and Thomas Locky, churchwardens, in 1678; and there are memorials in the north aisle, with arms, to John Saunders of Woolstone, gent. ob. 26 January, 1674, and Martha and Ann, his wives, and to others of this family: the church also contains various memorials to the Warren, Garrard, Mundy, Chamberlain and Watts families: in 1902 a carved oak reredos was erected at a cost of over £70, and a lectern of carved oak was presented by Mrs. Lucy Craddock, of Faringdon, in memory of her husband, who died in 1901: there is a large brass in the north aisle to the memory of Thomas Hughes, author of "Tom Brown's School Days": the churchyard has some fine yew trees, and includes a memorial to John Briscoe, 40 years parish clerk, who died 14 January, 1863:, there are 500 sittings.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1655.