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CHURCH OF THE HOLY ROOD

Excerpt from the Church Guide.

SHILLINGSTONE

Pillage (by Danes in the 9th and 10th centuries), fire (to which wooden buildings, thatched roofs and Church records are susceptible), religious fanaticism (of the Reformation and Commonwealth periods) and restorations (of 1858, 1888 and 1902, when the preservation of antiquities was not thought to be important) have all conspired to obscure countless interesting historical facts about this Church. The information given here is however, with the help of the writings of earlier researchers, as accurate as deductions from records and remaining evidence will allow.


SAXON  ORIGINS ?

There is some evidence that a wooden church stood on the present site at the end of the 7th century and was later burned down. During gravedigging some 70 years ago, two rudely sculptured stones were found which were apparently bases for wooden or stone pillars, together with a layer of wood ashes. A head roughly carved in chalk (thought to be that of Christ, or perhaps of St. Birinus who came to England to convert the West Saxons in AD 635) was dug up near the South door and is now built into the porch. The dedication of the Church of the Holy Rood also suggests Saxon origins.


MEDIÆVAL RELIC

A mediæval relic is the stone slab, now built into the West wall beside the belfry. It is almost certainly a coffin lid, and was probably found beneath the chancel floor during restoration work in 1902. It depicts the head of the deceased, flanked by the Sun and the Moon,  these were originally pagan symbols but were used to represent Christ and the Virgin Mary in earliest Christian times.


FROM NORMAN TIMES

The oldest parts of the existing Church, the nave and chancel were long thought to date from the Early English period, about the end of the 12th century. But restoration in 1858, entailing removal of plaster, revealed some early round-headed Norman windows high up in the walls of the Nave. This would pre-date some of the original stonework to about 1090. The tower was added in about 1450 and the North aisle and chancel aisle (the latter is now the Vestry) were created in 1888, when part of the original North wall was removed.


THE BELFRY

There were five bells until 1938 when the sixth, the treble, was given in memory of Canon Dayman. The largest bell, the tenor, weighs 15 cwt. 2 qrts and 9 lb. and rings in the key of E. The oldest known bell was cast in 1622 but recast in 1892, and of the original bells still in position the fifth and the tenor date from 1736. A set of handbells, in a case on the South wall of the Belfry, was given in memory of Frederick Henry Hart (1888-1967) “who gave a life of service to this church as bellringer and was for 30 years Captain. Beloved husband of Nellie Kathleen Hart.”

Also in the Belfry is the (now broken) stone coffin of a member of the Eskellinq family, thought to have been the founder of the (stone) church in about 1090. The Eskellings were Doomsday tenants of the Manor, from whom Shillingstone derives its name. Lying in another corner is part of the original stone altar which was destroyed during the Reformation.

The Font dates from the Early English period and is of Purbeck marble. It stood in the middle of the Nave until about 1878.

The stained-glass memorial window over the West door has a dedicatory brass plate fixed on the North belfry wall which states that it is “to commemorate all the young soldiers and sailors of Shillingstone who lost their lives in the Great War.” Given by Mary Lowndes and Barbara Forbes, it is in particular a memorial to 2nd Lt. Richard Forbes Lowndes, of the King's Royal Rifles, who fell at Beaumont Hamel on 14th November, 1916, aged 19.

The late Mrs. Eveline Tate (nee Bower), who lived for many years at Church House, was involved with Barbara Forbes in the design of this window.

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CHURCH  GUIDE