St Deny Stratford Dingly

The second church on my visit to this area and a wonderfull little church to visit. Could find no history on the church but I did take a photo of a paddle in the church with some history on it so I have copied some from that

Your first view of St Denny which is in a pretty setting

"The church in origin is probably one of the oldest in Berkshire. There was a small part of the church that was here before 1066; the present building appears to be an enlargement. The form you see now appears to be an enlargement a little before and after 1200.

The wooden Bell Tower was not built onto the walls but started at ground level inside them and dates to around 1400. The chancel was rebuilt probably on the foundations of the original one  in the 18^th century.

In 1870 a major refurbishment was undertaken which included a new porch and windows with some older features regrettably being destroyed

In 1956 the church was redecorated and refurnishing undertaken including new  clergy stalls, lectern, altar rails and credence table

Other items of interest are the Norman font, wall paintings dated to the 13^th century that were uncovered in 1870, decorated bricks which are probably unique in England. There are a couple of brasses, one to Lady Margaret Dyneley (1444) and John Lyford (1610).

The altar a plane example of a Laudian Table dates from 1630. The royal coat of arms above the chancel arch is of William & Mary is of a fine quality. The kneelers were made by the Stratford Dingley WI for the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in 1977.

St Deny who the church is dedicated to is the patron saint of France and was martyred in the 3^rd century. It seems likely that the church was dedicated to another saint and rededicated after the Norman conquest"
Most of the internal phots were taken with an iPhone 8+ as well as my DSLR

 

The marker here was placed there to mark the Millennium and has a sundial on the side .

Right the bell tower with wood cladding on the outside

Looking towards the porch

The church looking from the South side

Going around East and the chancel end. My first though in seeing this was that it looked  18th century and after reading the history it seems I was right

The East end the windows look typical of the time it was built

Going down the churchyard a bit to get a shot of the North side

Around to the West end showing the tower just offset to one side

The porch  from the outside and 

 inside   

Inside looking along the nave

Inside the chancel from the arch

The nicely dressed altar

Looking back to the bell tower support frame

On either side of the East wall of the chancel are memorials

Closer view of the bell tower support frame which looks to have suffered from insect damage

The tiles on the arch really stood out for me with the the decorated bricks on  the North side, I have never come across the like before

Above the coat of arms of William & Mary which could well be late 17th century.

Left a memorial to Rev Edward John Westwood

The Valpy Family Memorial listing various members who died in different parts of the country and world

Near the font you can see the village Roll of Honour from both first and second World Wars

Beneath hangs a poppy wreath

Three more small memorials in the chancel

Painting over one of the aisle arches

Beside of of them you can make out the figure of what may well be St Christopher

Around other parts of the wall of the nave you can see exposed wall paintings

This has to be the brass of Lady Margaret Dyneley (1444) behind a glass frame

The North aisle which at one end has a nice little kitchen area, seen a lot of these in churches

Some of the beautiful of oil lames converted to run electric lights

I love how the hang in the church

The Norman Tub Font

The churchyard is quite large for the size of the village

This is the South side near the church

Couple of tombs

The North side has an extension at one end

The East end where more important people of the village like to be buried

This must have been quiet a large family vault but the iron rails have been removed

Another view of the North side

and one looking North from the West end

With that I will leave you with this view of St Deny

Till Next time have a wonderful week