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Introduction
The church is on the Ridgeway Path.
An ancient building of peace whose walls tell stories!
Welcome to this beautiful Church of St Mary the Virgin, North Stoke. There has been a church on this site
for many hundreds of years and it continues to serve the small village of North Stoke.
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Origins
The story of North Stoke as a Christian village begins with St Birinus, who arrived in England in 631.
The middle of the country was occupied by the Gevissae, a tribe of West Saxons, with their capital at
Bensington (Benson). Oswald of Northumbria, a Christian, married the pagan daughter of Cynigils, the
King of the Gevissae. Birinus baptised Cynigils and officiated at his daughter's marriage; he settled
in Dorchester and so began the 7th century of this neighbourhood.
Of the Saxon church of North Stoke we have a possible relic in three stones which in their pattern and
colouring suggest the shape of a pillar piscina. They stand in a box by the pulpit.
After a dark period of 400 years, during which the Danes poured over the land plundering and pillaging,
William the Conqueror crossed the Thames at Wallingford, with the help of Wigod the Saxon Lord. Wigod's
own daughter married a Norman Baron. In 1084 their daughter married Milo Crispin, another Norman Baron.
His property included North Stoke and Nuneham Murren. Milo Crispin, a very wealthy man, was a son of Gilbert
Crispin, Baron of Bec. So there was a connection between North Stoke and Bec which lasted for 300 years.
The Saxon Church may have been destroyed by the Danes; certainly a Norman Church took its place. Of this,
nothing remains except the dedication to St Mary of Bec, the large stones incorporated in the flint walls,
and the Mass dial representing the figure of Our Lord over the South door.
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The Present Church
The present church was built in 1230-1240. In 1154, Brian Fitz Count had gone on pilgrimage, and his wife
to the nunnery at Bec so that the Honour of Wallingford passed to Henry II. Henry III assigned it to his
brother the Earl of Cornwall. He presented Robert, a monk of St Albans, and after only one year, in 1237,
Robert de Esthall presumably for whom the present church was built, and who stayed for 37 years.
The Chest is supposed to be 13th century and a Crusader one -- Earl Richard of Cornwall in fact went
to Palestine 1236-42.
The Nave is a little later in date. Building may have been interrupted by the Crusade and resumed after
1242. In 1392 the Patronage went from the Lords of Wallingford under the King to the Nuns of Bromhall. They
got into difficulties and the Bishop of Lincoln eventually sequestrated their income until repairs were completed.
In 1669 the Tower fell down. £100 was spent on it and 60 years later, in 1725, the tower was completed.
The Piscina in the nave suggests a second altar there, dedicated to St Lawrence. All the money from the
candles burnt before it was given to the Vicar by the Nuns. There is also a piscina and aumbry in the Sanctuary.
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Restoration Discoveries
In 1902 a restoration under the Revd Charles Stanwell cost £1000. During that restoration, the following
discoveries were made:
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The brick vault in the south side of the nave a little to the east of the south doorway.
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The coffin shaped memorial stone under the chancel arch, 7 ft 2 ins x 4 ft 5 ins.
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The stone memorial slab on the floor of the chancel bearing a latin inscription to a former rector of
North Stoke -- Robert de Esthall 1238-1274. 'Here lies the body of Robert de Esthall formerly Rector of the
church. Pray for the Soul of that man.'
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Arms to the hand holding the mass dial over the south door, subsequently these were covered up again.
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Pillar piscina, pieces are in the box by the pulpit.
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Wall Paintings
There are many wall paintings dated to the 14th century. Some of the paintings are indistinct
and difficult to interpret.
Chancel Arch
The Last Judgement.
North Side
Three nude figures rising from a grave being received by a Bishop in vestments and a Deacon
(either St Stephen or St Lawrence).
South Side
St Stephen or St Lawrence with a Bishop in vestments.
Beneath: figures forming part of the Resurrection.
Lower down: a small Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John.
South Wall in 3 tiers
Last Supper.
Betrayal, Trial and Flagellation
Resurrection, Descent from the Cross, Bearing the Cross
Over South Door
The Annunciation.
North Wall
Over porch: Three Kings living - three Kings dead. The latter saying to the former 'What you are, we were,
what we are, you will be.'
Between windows in 2 tiers:
Martyrdom of St Catherine.
Trial of St Stephen and Stoning of St Stephen with angel above.
East Wall left of the pulpit
Murder of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Splay of middle window of south wall: St John the Baptist with disc bearing Agnus Dei (possibly
the Baptism of our Lord)
Splay of west window of south wall: A winged demon (possibly the Temptation of our Lord)
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