St Mary's Church, Ware

St Mary's Church, Ware
St Mary's Church, Ware Shown within Hertfordshire
51°48′43″N 0°01′59″W
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	stmarysware.co.uk
Specifications
Number of towers	1
Number of spires	1 (Hertfordshire spike)
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	St Albans (since 1877)

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

History

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

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

• Charles Chauncy, who served as vicar of the church in the reign of Charles I, emigrated to America where he became President of Harvard.
• In the 16th century the Fanshawe family acquired an estate at Ware, and members of the family were buried in the church: for example,
  • Thomas Fanshawe (remembrancer of the exchequer) (1533-1601)
  • Katherine Ferrers (1634-1660) the wife of Thomas Fanshawe, Second Viscount Fanshawe of Ware Park, and reputedly the Wicked Lady, a notorious highwaywoman.
  • Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608-1666), a politician and writer who served as Charles II´s ambassador to Spain.

Notes

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

1. 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

External links

• Media related to St Mary's church, Ware, Hertfordshire at Wikimedia Commons