The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Ewelme
The present-day Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Ewelme is largely the result of rebuildings by the Chaucers and (particularly) the de la Polesbetween the 1420s and 1470s. Though constructed mainly of flint and stone it incorporates brick in its embattled parapet, and in its wide double-aisled design shows marked East Anglian influences. Both aisles run through to a broad east end, and the chancel and clerestoreyed nave are separated by a medieval screen with no chancel arch, creating a light and spacious interior (Figs 53, 60–1). In particular there are marked similarities with the de la Poles' church at Wingfield (Suffolk), remodelled during the 1460s. The structure is not, however, as unified as sometimes claimed, and embodies traces of earlier work, most obviously the squat west tower. The 12th-century church may have comprised an aisleless, towerless nave with a shorter and narrower chancel than later. If so the chancel was probably extended eastwards during the 13th century, its south-east corner marked by an angle buttress whose footings survive. The existing tower (partly rebuilt in 1792) was apparently added in the later 14th century, and until then the thick western wall may have supported only a bellcote. The south aisle was most likely built by Thomas Chaucer in the late 14th or early 15th century, and has traces of a former south buttress embedded in its west wall, placing the window slightly off centre. Any evidence for an early north aisle was destroyed during 15th-century rebuilding. The de la Poles' mid 15th-century changes began probably with addition of the south-east chapel (Plate 15), built for the newly planned almshouse, and presumably complete by 1438 when Thomas and Maud Chaucer's tomb was resited there. The tomb is encased in purbeck marble, inlaid with enamelled heraldic shields and brass effigies of Chaucer and his wife; the chapel too (including surviving glass and floor tiles) features heraldic devices celebrating the Chaucer, Burghersh, and de la Pole lineage. The chapel was dedicated to St John the Baptist from the outset, but its mural decoration (restored in the 19th century) is dominated by the IHS monogram for Jesus, repeated on shields in the lavish timber roof with its carved angels. The south windows, with their distinctive pointed heads, may have been self-consciously modelled on those in the earlier south aisle, though it seems more likely that the aisle was itself refenestrated when the chapel was built. Two figurative statue brackets flanking the tower arch (and marking the approach from the almshouses) may represent almsmen with their beads. Around the same time the chancel was broadened to the full width of the nave, its external east wall rebuilt in a chequer pattern to match the new chapel. The clerestory, north arcade, north chapel, and rood screen seem stylistically of a piece, and most likely reflect work between the 1440s and Alice de la Pole's death in 1475, although externally the clerestory's north wall switches from chalk clunch to flint halfway along, suggesting more than one phase. North and south porches were probably added around the same time, and the vestry (north of the chancel) is of similar or slightly later date, although it has been remodelled using old materials. A blocked opening in the nave's north wall probably gave access to the rood loft from an external stair. The high-quality oak screen (incorporating wrought-iron uprights) spans the church in three sections, and originally had polychrome decoration. The octagonal font, with its spectacular multi-tiered oak canopy (Fig. 61), is of similar date. Alice's alabaster tomb (Plate 15) stands between the south-east chapel and the chancel, ranking 'amongst the most important surviving late-medieval funerary monuments in England'. Made probably by a London workshop in the early 1470s it features an elaborate canopy decorated with angels bearing heraldic shields, a carved effigy, and (underneath) an unusual carved cadaver, the only surviving female example in England. A vertical joint in the chest and irregularities in its decoration suggest that it has been shortened to fit, following either a miscalculation or an early decision to move it from elsewhere in the chapel. Iron hooks and eyes imply that it was originally concealed by hangings, to be revealed on special occasions. A later monument to John de la Pole (d. 1492) survived in the church in the 1540s. Thereafter the church saw chiefly repairs and refurnishings, including removal of the rood loft at the Reformation. A high wooden pulpit with a sounding board and hour glass was installed in the early 17th century, and early 18th-century work in the chancel included wainscoting and installation of a painted and gilded wooden altarpiece. Galleries removed or altered in the 19th century were presumably 17th- or 18th-century additions, and a clock by Joseph Stockford of Thame was installed in 1770. The towers upper part was rebuilt in 1792–5 and the bellframe replaced, while the chancel was re-roofed in 1812 and part of the nave roof in 1826. A major re-ordering by the rector Edward Burton in 1832 included introduction of a new pulpit, reading desk, and neo-gothic stone reredos, repewing of church and chancel (with all seats facing the pulpit), removal of a 'rude' north gallery, and rebuilding of the north porch, while surviving fragments of medieval glass were gathered in St John's chapel. His successor Renn Dickson Hampden introduced a west organ (by Messrs Smith of London) in 1840, furnished the sanctuary with carpets and candlesticks, had biblical inscriptions painted around the chancel's east window, and installed stone-carved angels into the arcade arches above the screen, which he substantially lowered in 1843–4. A contemporary restoration of St John's chapel was carried out by John Kidd as master of the almshouse, and around the same time the church's west door was moved to the almshouse entrance and replaced by a replica. Heating (generating Tittle heat but ... foul smoke in plenty') was introduced in 1862, and in 1876 W.W. Harvey replaced Burton's chancel seats with choir seating; six years later he moved the organ to the north chapel, removing parts of the organ- and ringers' lofts to reveal the long-concealed west window, and donating a new east window (by Clayton & Bell) in memory of his daughter. St John's chapel was further refurbished in 1873 and 1901, and in 1904 a new altar and reredos were installed there to designs by J.N. Comper. The medievals creen was restored to its original height in 1924, the brown 19th-century paint having been removed in 1909. The roofs of St John's chapel and the north and south aisles were restored in 1937–8 following damage by deathwatch beetle; the nave and chancel roofs followed in 1949–50 as part of a wider restoration, which included a new electric clock mechanism, removal of a plain 19th-century screen across the tower arch, and installation of a steel bell frame. Electric lighting was introduced in 1933, and improved heating in 1945. A controversial plan to remove the 19th-century pulpit was defeated in 1981, following local opposition and expert advice. Besides the Chaucer and de la Pole tombs, the church retains an unusual number of 15th- and 16th-century memorial brasses to local gentry, royal servants, rectors, and masters of the almshouse. Later tablets commemorate rectors, schoolmasters, and prominent local families, and a war memorial tablet was placed in the south aisle in 1920. The earliest surviving bell may be 16th-century, the remaining five (by various foundries) dating from 1631, 1702, 1782, 1840, and 1950. The saunce is probably early 18th-century. Historical information about St. Mary's Church is provided by 'Ewelme', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 18, ed. Simon Townley (Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2016), pp. 192-234. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol18/pp192-234 [accessed 17 March 2023]. St. Mary's Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see Church of St Mary, Ewelme - 1059360 | Historic England For more information about St. Mary's Church see Ewelme | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
