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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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