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St Mary's Church (now St Mary's United Church),
Church Way, GL18 1AB,
Newent, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 13th century, and we understand it is still open.

The guide book describes the nave of St Mary the Virgin's Church as "in the style of the late 17th century, familiar to us from Wren's churches in London, but rare indeed in the depths of the country". This, it explains is because the original nave collapsed under a fall of heavy snow, in January 1674, and rebuilding took place "in the fashion of the day".

The Lady Chapel (formerly a chantry chapel) and medieval chancel were retained from the original church. The whole gives the appearance of being a double-aisled church, as the Chancel and Lady Chapel sit side by side, each with a separate entrance archway from the nave. Both have since undergone restoration. The tower too, with its lofty spire, is part of the original design, though that too has needed attention, the most recent rebuilding being in 1972.

Also of interest, in the entrance porch, is a cross-shaft. On one face is a representation of the Fall of Man, with the serpent entwined round the Tree of Knowledge between the figures of Adam and Eve, and on the other side possibly other Biblical scenes. The guide book says the carving is of a Northumbrian type, rare in the Midlands, and the suggested date is early 9th century.

It is listed in Places recorded by the Registrar General under the provisions of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (2010) as "St Mary's United Church", and the congregation now form a Local Ecumenical Partnership of Anglican, Methodist and Baptist worshippers.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SO7234725950. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Mary's Church (now St Mary's United Church), Newent shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Newent shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Newent, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Places recorded by the Registrar General under the provisions of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (2010) is available as a "Freedom of Information" document on the website What Do They Know. (verified 2018-10-14)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.