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St Mary Magdalene's Church,
Church End,
Twyning, 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 12th century, and we understand it is still open.

I am reliably informed by locals that "Twyning" is pronounced 'twinning'.

St Mary Magdalene's Church is a building in the Norman style, with many interesting features. The 12th century south doorway has a plain tympanum set within a round arch with a roll moulding, but this is now obscured by the 19th century porch. The chancel arch, of 13th century, is set on 2 pairs of Norman columns which lean outwards. Against the south wall of the Chancel is a monument to Sybil Clare, a contemporary of Elizabeth I, who died in 1575. The monument is in alabaster with black marble pillars having Ionic capitals supporting a classical pediment. She wears a ruff, is holding a book, and her left arm is around an infant with a dimpled chin. There is a rectangular brass inscription above the effigy.

Another grand monument, dating from the Restoration period is to William Hancock, and his two sons, all said to be true likenesses. The figures are half-height, wearing bibs and loose open coats. Above are cherubs blowing muffled trumpets, and below are four painted ships in full sail, each towing a boat. Underneath there are three oval inscription plaques, with dates of 1674, 1676 and 1717. The pulpit is 19th century.

In Arthur Mee's time, there was a well belonging to the farm next door to the church, known as St Chad's Well, said to have been visited by St Chad when he was Bishop of Bristol. [Sources: Kelly's Directory of Gloucestershire (1923), Arthur Mee's The King's England series for Gloucestershire, and the British Listed Buildings website.

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

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 SO8936936081. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Mary Magdalene's Church, Twyning shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Twyning 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 Twyning, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)

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.