Churches of the British Isles

The church stands close to the River Alne and the turret may perhaps have been intended to carry a beacon to light travellers along the causeway over the low-lying water meadows to the castle a few hundred metres to the north. A general restoration of the structure was undertaken in 1850. The nave's south wall had to be entirely rebuilt, along with the chancel arch. The tower contains six bells, the oldest of which is an early fifteenth century Worcester foundry example.

Perhaps the best-known marriage conducted here was that of Shakespeare's parents in 1557. John Shakespeare (1531-1601), a Yeoman, married Mary Arden (1540-1608, and with a recognisably local name), who was an heiress. John's father, Richard, had been one of the Arden family's tenant farmers, while Mary was the youngest of eight daughters. The wedding took place a year after the death of Mary's father, indicating that he probably disapproved of the match.

All photos on this page kindly contributed by Aidan McRae Thomson. Sound file by Percy Duke, released under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 Licence.