Stotfold Church Architecture

The present Church of St. Mary the Virgin dates to around 1150 and over time has had subsequent alterations and enlargements.  The 12th century Norman church consisted of an aisleless nave and chancel. The nave is 46½ ft x 21½ ft and has not been altered but the chancel was slightly shorter than the present one of 40ft x 15ft. This church was probably preceded by a series of wooden Saxon churches on the same site, as in 1890 excavations in the nave revealed a Saxon coffin containing human bones. The church is built of flint with Ashwell clunch stone dressings to the buttresses and is mainly in the Early Perpendicular style.

14th Century & 15th Centuries

In 1320 a north aisle was added to the structure which took in this transept chapel. In about 1370 part of the south aisle was extended to its present size by piercing the side walls with arches to open it up. The original outer facing can still be seen on the two thick piers, which were left as supports on either side.

In about 1450 the chancel was widened and the west tower and south porch were built. The tower is 63ft in height and is of three stages. The south porch has an outer archway with a four centred head under a square label. It is believed that the baptismal font also dates from this time. It was made of Totternhoe stone, octagonal and panelled. The clerestory walls and windows were added in about 1480 and the thatched nave roof was replaced with lead. During this time the walls were covered with frescoes, but these were later covered with whitewash by the Puritans.

16th & 17th Centuries

During this period, the iconoclasts endeavoured to destroy all of the work from previous centuries. The Rood-Loft supporting the representation of Jesus on the cross attended by the Virgin Mary and Saint John was removed and destroyed. The image of the parish’s Patron Saint was also removed from the 14th century recess in the east wall of the nave, south of the chancel arch. The medieval glass that filled the windows of the church was destroyed during the Civil War. There only remains a few fragments in the windows of the north aisle.

19th Century

At the start of the 19th century the tower was in a ruinous condition. In about 1824 much work was done at the church which included plastering the roof of the north aisle and replacing both the mediaeval carvings and the 400 year-old pews, the latter being done by local contractor William Seymour of Arlesey. At the same time the old paintings on the walls of St. George and the Dragon, St. Michael weighing souls, etc., were either whitewashed over or destroyed and the walls covered with wooden panelling; this panelling was removed in 1932. The chancel was rebuilt in 1890 and the floor raised by seven inches. The north porch was demolished for reasons now unknown. A clock was added to the tower in 1910 as a memorial to Rev. John Holding who is also commemorated by the stained glass in the east window. The only pieces of church plate are a communion cup of 1739 and a paten of 1847.

Bells

Originally the tower housed five bells but one was sold to the parish at nearby Arlesey and another went to Astwick. A bell made by Miles Graye in 1615 was cracked and another made by Thomas Russell in 1740 was out of tune. In 1948 John Taylor & Co of Loughborough recast the Miles Graye bell and supplied three new bells. The cost of this work was covered by public subscription in thanksgiving for the end of World War II. These five bells were tuned to the oldest surviving bell in the chamber dated 1484. The last two bells of the current eight bell peal were added in 1976, again by public subscription.