St Mary Shaw

 

 Over the years I have passed this church many times as I drove along the A34 (now the A339) or through the village it is in. After starting the blog I now write I thought I should pop in and check it out when I get a chance, well I made that happen the other week.

The place is called Shaw cum Donnington  as it co-joins the neighbouring village. You have to come off the  A339 at Newbury of if you know the area like I do then you come along the B4009 and turn off to get to the church. Now the history on this church is sparse or non extant on Wikipedia but RBH history does have a little. 

"The building was erected in 1840, after the vicar had been on holiday to the Isle of Wight. Seeing a church there that he fell in love with, he returned home to build a copy, or at least a building inspired by it. I've been unable to discover which church on the island he saw. The results at Shaw are a not unpleasing Norman Revival building with a short spire.

The old church that he pulled down is said to have been Saxon in origin, but weren't they all? The new church has retained several of its monuments and added further ones of interest. Sadly the heraldic ledger stones to the owners of adjoining Shaw House have been relegated to outside the south wall and are now largely hidden by bushes: the Dolmans, the Andrewses and even the flamboyant Duke of Chandos' third duchess. Thomas Dolman still has a fine mural monument inside though. Other less impressive plaques include members of the Bacon family, some of the richest men in Britain. Anthony and his brother, Thomas, were great Welsh Ironmasters whose father made Merthyr Tydfil what it today."

I have to admit I was unsure if the church would be open but as I thought it turned out to be locked because of the Covid 19 restrictions

 Your fist view of the church would be like this on the left as you came along the road. 

As you walked  up to the church you are greeted by a Lychgate

 

 

 

 

The Lychgate is an impressive entrance to the Curchyard though the gates that once hung on them are now gone

Walk though the gate and you see the church tower and spire which dominates it.

Walking left takes you to the North side of the church

Above the porch on the South side the doors have chipboard screwed to them which makes me think they are damaged.

Left the path through the churchyard to the new church offices

 Above the entrance on the  West end under the tower.

Right the churchyard from across the road nearby

Above the grave of Sidney T Pocock MM  with the Royal Breconshire emblem on the top.

Left some of the chest tomes near the porch

Above the Commonwealth War grave of Private A.E.Richardson

Above the Commonwealth War grave of  Private RMLL J.F.Ayers

The Commonwealth War grave of  Gunner D.F.Deacon

This part of the cemetery is beside the North of the church

This is where you will find the Commonwealth War grave of Flying Officer E.E.V Barwood

The Commonwealth War grave of Serjeant W.C.Goodman

Looking East towards the chest tombs

Alongside the path that runs by the church on the South side are cremation memorials 

Unusual looking grave cross  

I will take my leave of you this week with a view of the Lych gate and St Mary's church from the opposite side of the road

Till Next time have a Great Weekend

All Saints Goosy

 

After visiting Denchworth my next destination was Goosey where I could see All Saints Church which is in a small village that was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. I came to the church not expecting to go inside so finding it locked was not disappointed by this. Just means I need to go back when I find it is open again. The history on Wikpedia  

"The Church of England parish church of All Saints' has an Early English nave that was built in the 13th century. The present chancel is a late 16th-century Tudor addition. The church has a king post roof. The vestry on the north side of the church and the bell-turret on the nave gable were added in the 19th century. All Saints' is a chapelry of the parish of St Deny's, Stanford in the Vale. All Saints' building is Grade II* listed."

Above and left the North side as you walk in the gate and along the path

Looking over to the East a small churchyard can be seen

From across the churchyard towards the entrance door

Here we look towards the entrance door, on the left what I assume is the stump of a preaching cross

Walking around the South side and a view towards the church

Back around to the North East side, old misplaced headstones lean against the wall 
 

 

 

 

A commonwealth war grave has been added to this family plot

It belongs to Private L.G.Goodchild

A closer look at the preaching cross stump

Above the memorial to Albert Booker along with the rest of his family mentioned below him

It stands with some older head stones 

Around by the West end a broken headstone leans against the wall

Look South along the boundary wall and you find more modern headstones

Turn East and the churchyard seems rather empty apart from headstones by the hedge

 Mixed in among them are some large family plots

My last look at All Saints till I get a chance to return and see inside

England will be in a four week Lockdown when you read this and after this blog I have two more churches to feature. I had hoped to visit a few more before this happened but other things intervened and it did not happen so I may have to come up with something.

Till Next time stay safe & take care.

 

 

Roll's of Honour

 

I do have a blog written for this week which along with another two churches gave me another three blogs to write but last week due to circumstances beyond my control I could not visit and more. On Thursday England went into a four week Lock-down which means I cannot go anywhere till the 2nd December so I thought of when else could I write.

As it is going to be Remembrance day on the 11th next week and normally we have a Remembrance Sunday I thought this week I would show some of the Rolls of Honour I have come across in the churches I have visited. Every church I visit I look for the roll and get a photo. I will also get photos of the war graves so there is a record and they are not forgotten. Now most Villages in the UK have a memorial to those who died in the two great wars. some are quite elaborate and a stand proud in the village for all to see but if you go into the church you will find another listing the names of the local people who died. If you look though any of the churches I have featured you should find a Roll of Honour shown, below are a few of the ones I have seen.

  Above is the one from World War One you will find in St Mary Church in Cholsey. I always thought they never had one till I saw this. 

One of the names on the memorial is H.J.Abdey his name is at the bottom of this commonwealth war grave in the churchyard, the name at the top is that of his brother who is not listed even though you can see he died within a few days of the start of WWI. While at camp he was taken ill and died before going to war. He was given a War grave but is not listed as one killed in action

Underneath is a second plaque listing the fallen in World War Two. Placed there after the war. Not as elaborate but then no one thought there would be a second war.

 There is a small stone block on the Forty (village Green) that I feel was placed there as an afterthought and remembers the dead of all the wars.

 

Go to Aldworth  nor many miles away and you will find  a Roll of Honour on the East end wall of the church under the Window

This Roll is in Clifton Hampden Church near Abingdon. Out side you can also find the memorials to a couple of other decorated men from WWII

 

This roll at St Michael Llanfihangel-Nant-Melan is typical of the ones you find in Welsh churches 

 

Landrindod Wells on the other hand has a chapel dedicated to the men who gave their lives but then its a major town and the War Memorial shows hundreds of men on it.

The church also has this stunning Stained glass window also..

This one is in Rhulen a country church in Wales 

You will find this in the porch at Crikadar a village in the hills above the Wye Valley

This one is on the wall of the village pub in Denchworth Oxfordshire 

This memorial is in Hinton Waldhurst, the plaque at the bottom shows the name of Airey Neave who survived the war after escaping Coldiz Castle a notorious POW camp. He was murdered by the IRA outside the House of Commons in London where he was MP. I think his name was a worthy addition

I will leave you with this shot of the Commonwealth War Grave of Marine Dale Edward Gostick who was killed by a Mine when his Viking Armoured Truck hit a mine in Afghanistan. He will be remembered like the other fallen from the Wars on Remembrance Day 

 

We Will Remember

Till Next time Stay Safe and have a Wonderful Weekend