Building record 0209800000 - ST MARY'S CHURCH, NORTH MARSTON

Dimensions - Length 32m, Width 18m.
Parish Church of St Mary, stands at the NE end of the village; the walls of the chancel and vestry are of ashlar, those of the nave and aisles of stone rubble, and those of the tower of rough ashlar, covered with plaster; all the dressings are of stone; the roofs are covered with lead. The church which existed on the site before the middle of the 13th century probably consisted of a chancel, and an aisleless nave about the same size as the present nave; the north aisle with its arcade, was added c1260. A south aisle was built or begun c1320, but the E bay was built or completed about the middle of the 14th century when the south porch was added. In the 15th century the chancel was rebuilt, a two storeyed north vestry was added, and the west tower built; towards the end of the the 15th century the two west bays of the S arcade were partly rebuilt, the old arches being retained; at the same time the clearstorey was constructed, and only restorations have been carried out in the church since that date; the chancel was restored by Queen Victoria in 1854. The church is especially interesting on account of the development of the plan, and the late 15th-century detail of the chancel is of an unusually high standard of technical and artistic excellence (B4).
John Shorne was rector of North Marston from about 1290 who was famous for capturing the devil in a boot and creating a miraculous holy well [CAS 01324] . After his death in 1314 a shrine was erected over his tomb in the church and was the object of much veneration and pilgrimage until 1478 when the Dean and Canons of Windsor removed the shrine to St George's Chapel, replacing it with an image (B3, B8, B10-11).
Grade I. Parish church. C13 N. aisle, C14 S. aisle and porch, C15 chancel, N. vestry and W. tower, late C15 clerestory and alterations to S. arcade, chancel restored 1854. All restored 1920-21. Chancel is of ashlar, remainder of squared and coursed rubble stone. Lead roofs. W. tower of 3 stages has diagonal buttresses, remains of moulded plinth, battlemented parapet with carved gargoyles, and 2-light openings to bell-chamber. W. door has moulded 2-centred arch with hoodmould, and 2-light traceried window above. Nave has battlemented parapet and clerestory with 3 bays of 4-light cusped windows with flat heads. N. aisle has small lancet to W., and 2-light traceried windows flanking moulded arched doorway to N. S. aisle has plain parapet and 2 3-light windows with flat heads, that to left with uncusped lights. Finely moulded S. doorway, double chamfered arch to porch. E. window of S. aisle is Decorated with 3-lights, one blocked by chancel buttress, with ogee tracery and one carved head stop to hoodmould. Chancel and vestry have battlemented parapet with crocketted finials, moulded corbel table below with carved heads and half-figures, and moulded plinth, sill course and dripmould. Off-set buttresses. Chancel has 3 bays of Perpendicular windows with moulded frames, similar 5-light with some ogee tracery to E. S. doorway has 4-centred arch. 2-storey vestry has irregular cusped lights and octagonal stair turret. Interior: triple chamfered tower arch. Nave has N. arcade of double chamfered arches with outer nailhead moulding on quatrefoil piers with moulded caps. 2 arches to W. of S. arcade are chamfered and moulded and have central octagonal pier with concave sides. Arch to E, is moulded and has piers with unusual vertical mouldings and fleurons to capitals. To E. of S. arcade is cusped ogee arch with ornamental fleurons and arch to rood-loft above. Fine late C15 roof with moulded beams,braced tie beams with traceried spandrels, and carved angel corbels. Aisles have traces of wall paintings. S. aisle has Decorated E. bay with fleurons to moulded sill course, window surround and low arched recess, probably shrine of John Schorne. E. window has ogee niches in jambs, that to right on carved head corbel. Decorated piscina. Chancel has blind window over 4-centred doorway to vestry, moulded ogee piscina with shelf on 4-centred arch, and triple sedilia with ogee canopied niches. E. wall has C19 reredos and flanking ogee niches with painted texts. Fittings: C15 octagonal font of clunch with quatrefoil panels and shields. C15 choir stalls with carved misericords, poppyheads and traceried front panels. C16 pews, poor-box and chest, C16-C17 altar table. Other fittings C19. Reredos and glass in E. window, 1854, were the gift of Queen Victoria in memory of John Camden Nield. Monuments: Brass plaques to Elizabeth Saunders 1613 and Richard Saunders 1602. Stone tablet to John Virgin, vicar, 1694 with crude relief carving and inscription. Marble wall tablet to Thomas Saunders and family, 1744, with fluted Doric pilasters, entablature and pediment. Wall tablet to Richard Saunders, 1751, in N. aisle, with pediment and flanking scrolls. RCHM II p. 223-5 (B7).
Watching brief carried out by Network Archaeology in March and December 2005 during installation of new drains around the west end of the building recorded the mortared rubble limestone footings of the tower and aisles. The footings of the north aisle were unmortared, suggesting that it was built in a separate constructional phase to the tower and south aisle (B9).
Church guide (B12).
Illustration Included in a collection of sketches of Buckinghamshire churches by Charlotte Pigott in the early 1840s (B13).
Two trenches excavated on the northside of the north aisle. Trench 1 identified 2 burials. Vertebra, pelvic girdle, sacrum, two femurs, ad the lower arms of an adult skeleton were uncovered. The second burial only the metatarsals were uncovered, protruding from the wetern edge. Two burials were also identified in Trench 2. The skull, clavicle, and uppermost tip of the left humerus were uncovered. The second burial was probably that of a newborn, the bone was completely crushed. At the southern end of the trench next to the butress of the north aisle was a series of large stones. Possibly placed as reinforcement for the north-western corner of the church wall (B14).
Watching brief carried out by KDK Archaeology in November 2023 on 2 investigative test pits inside the south aisle. Uncoursed mortared limestone foundations found in both test pits, overlying graveyard soils with an articulated burial. See report for detail (B15).