Church of St Mary the Virgin, Fawsley

St Mary the Virgin Church
Church of St Mary the Virgin
Location Fawsley, Northamptonshire
Country England
Denomination Anglican
History
Dedication Mary, mother of Jesus
Architecture
Heritage designation Grade I
Designated 1968
Completed approximately 1209
Administration
Parish Fawsley
Diocese Peterborough
Province Canterbury

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Fawsley, Northamptonshire, England. It serves the parish of Fawsley under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Peterborough.[1] It was built in the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.[2]

History

The current church dates to the 13th century. It is thought to have been established in 1209 on the site of a former wooden Saxon church,[3] as a chapel under St. John the Baptist Church in Blisworth.[4] This lasted until the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the Knightley family demolished most of the village to enclose land for sheep farming.[5] The church was protected from demolition by the fact that it had had land granted to it to establish a chantry in Bedfordshire.[4] In 1690, the chancel was rebuilt and later, the church had effigies of the Knightley family installed after a number of them were buried in the church.[4] The church was granted Grade I listed status in 1968 and was amended in 1987.[2]

Washington family

In 1720, the coat of arms of the Washington family was noted as being carved into the stone outside the entrance, possibly because Reverend Lawrence Washington, the great-great grandfather of United States President George Washington, owned the estate in the area that included the church. The shield was later hidden behind stones but was rediscovered in 1885 and protected with a glass case.[6] The church also has stained glass windows bearing the Washington family coat of arms which were removed from Sulgrave Manor, the Washingtons' ancestral home.[7][8][9]

References

  1. ↑ A Church Near You. "St Mary the Virgin, Fawsley". Church of England. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "1343552 - The National Heritage List for England". English Heritage. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  3. ↑ "The Knightley Parishes - Fawsley". Theknightleyparishes.btck.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 4 (pp. 224-228)". British-history.ac.uk. 1931-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  5. ↑ Travel (2006-05-17). "Meet the ancestors". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  6. ↑ "Full text of "Warton and George Washington's ancestors"". Cornell University (archived). Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  7. ↑ "American Heritage in England: Presidents and Politics". English Heritage. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  8. ↑ "Northamptonshire A Sense Of Place - Sulgrave Manor". BBC. 2003-07-04. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  9. ↑ "Full text of "American shrines in England"". Cornell University (archived). 1907-07-25. Retrieved 2014-03-26.

Coordinates: 52°12′24″N 1°10′29″W / 52.20667°N 1.17472°W