St Mary's Church, Ware

St Mary's Church is a grade I listed parish church in Ware, Hertfordshire, England.[1]

St Mary's Church, Ware
St Mary's Church, Ware is located in Hertfordshire
St Mary's Church, Ware
St Mary's Church, Ware
Shown within Hertfordshire
51°48′43″N 0°01′59″W / 51.81207°N 0.03317°W / 51.81207; -0.03317
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
Websitestmarysware.co.uk
Specifications
Number of towers1
Number of spires1 (Hertfordshire spike)
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseSt Albans (since 1877)

History

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There has been a church on the site since the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book mentions the presence of a priest at Ware,[2] and the existence of a church is confirmed by a reference in another document from the reign of William the Conqueror, a charter given to Hugh de Grandmesnil.[3]

 
Interior

The chancel, the oldest part of the present building, dates from the thirteenth century, when the church served the town and the monks of the Benedictine priory.

The church was expanded in the 1390s with the addition of clerestories and aisles, which feature corbels of Joan of Kent, Dowager Princess of Wales, her badges and her husbands. The octagonal font with carvings of saints and the head of King Richard II in the south porch date from the same period.[4]

The church was restored in the nineteenth century by George Godwin.

Architecture

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The building is faced in flint.

The tower is surmounted by a short spire of the type known as a "Hertfordshire spike" (see note1).[1]

People connected with the church

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Notes

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1.^ Flèche or short spire rising from a church-tower, its base concealed by a parapet, common in Herts., England. Pevsner, N., Cherry. "BoE, Hertfordshire". (1977)

References

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  1. ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1217410)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  2. ^ Place name: Ware, Hertfordshire
  3. ^ The charter gave permission to found an "alien priory" in Ware, a dependency of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Evroul in Normandy. - Alien house: Ware priory | British History Online.
  4. ^ Perman, David A New History of Ware, its people and its buildings (2010) p62
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