St Mary-le-More, Wallingford

Church of St Mary-le-More
Wallingford town centre, with the Town Hall in the foreground and the church of St Mary-le-More in the background on the right.
51°35′59″N 1°07′30″W / 51.5996°N 1.1249°W / 51.5996; -1.1249
Location Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England
Denomination Church of England
Website Parish of St Mary le More and Saint Leonard
Architecture
Architectural type church
Administration
Diocese Oxford
Province Canterbury

St Mary-le-More is a Church of England parish church in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England. The church is in the centre of the town, near the town hall.

History

St Mary le More existed by 1077, when the advowson belonged to St Alban's Abbey.[1] The west tower was originally 12th century but its upper stages were rebuilt in a Perpendicular Gothic style in about 1653.[1] The nave and aisle were built in the 13th and 14th century and the chancel was built somewhat later,[1] but all were rebuilt in 1854 to designs by the Gothic Revival architect David Brandon.[2]

In the present building, the west window of the north aisle has stained glass made in 1856 by Thomas Willement.[3] The pulpit was made in 1888 by the sculptor Onslow Ford.[2] St Mary-le-More is a Grade II* listed building.[4]

In 2009–10 underfloor heating was installed and the floor retiled, two lavatories and a kitchen were added and access for disabled people was improved.

Bells

The tower has a ring of 10 bells. A ring of eight including the tenor was cast in 1738 by Richard Phelps and Thomas Lester of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.[5] Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry re-cast the second bell of that ring (now the fourth bell of the present ring) in 1887,[5] the year of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. In 2003 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast a new treble and second bell,[5] increasing the ring to 10.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Page & Ditchfield 1923, pp. 539–546
  2. 1 2 Pevsner 1960, p. 247.
  3. ↑ Pevsner 1960, p. 248.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Mary le More (1182404)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Hedgcock, James (21 August 2012). "Wallingford S Mary le More". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 23 September 2012.

Sources

  • Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1923). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 539–546.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 247–248.
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