Winkfield St Marys Church
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(small)
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Near the published location, find a year "ABCD" on the lychgate. The cache is located at N 51°26.(B)(A)(Dx2)' W 000°42.(D-A)(B-C)(B-1)'. About Winkfield St Mary's Christian worship was already six centuries old when the middle section of the present church was constructed towards the end of the 1200s. With no local stone to cut for building blocks, the masons of the Middle Ages made the walls of rubble bonded with lime mortar and faced them with pebbly ironstone, collected from the local heathland. There is a commanding red brick bell tower, erected in 1629 to replace an old wooden belfry that stood close by. The local brick industry, that brought wealth to the area for centuries, was thriving and the tower was constructed from warm orange-red bricks made from the London Clay. Inside is a spiral staircase leading to the clock mechanism and, on the uppermost floor, the bell chamber with a ring of six bells dated from 1597 to 1874. Entering the Church one of the most striking features are the pillars down the centre aisle which help to support the roof. In 1592 Elizabeth I gave one of these great octagonal oak pillars, and in 1887 Queen Victoria gave another from Windsor Forest. Winkfield is the only Church in Berkshire to have such pillars down the centre- the bane of brides coming down the aisle! The nave is very plain. During The Reformation of the 1530s many ‘abominations’ were removed and the Royal Arms displayed, and one such a board, of George III, remains over the main door. The Church underwent further alterations in the 1590s, and furthermore, Windsor Forest people were strongly Parliamentarian during the Civil War of the 1640s, when any remaining statuary and stained glass would have been destroyed. Only a brass plaque to Thos. Montague, died 1630, remains behind the pulpit. When the Monarchy was restored, Charles II came to the throne. There is a finely carved memorial to his master mason, Thomas Wise, dated 1685, a curiosity in a Church with so little masonry. The font in St. Mary’s was designed by F. Bentley, architect of Westminster Cathedral, when he was in his early twenties. It is in an ornate ‘High Victorian’ style, combining elements from many artistic traditions. The chancel, or altar end, of the Church was rebuilt in 1858. G. E. Street, a renowned Victorian architect, who designed it in the Gothic style of the Middle Ages. The chancel is suffused with light from the stained glass window depicting Christ in Majesty. There is also an attractive window in the south chapel, by C. Kempe, depicting The Nativity. The 19th Century was a time of great personal giving to the Church, and the wealth is reflected in the redesign of the chancel by H. Woodyer in 1888. The use of different materials by craftsmen is fully celebrated in the use of red brown and buff wall tiles, a stone carving of The Last Supper, a highly decorative basin, or piscina, for the washing of Communion vessels, carved wooden furniture and an iron screen with tall candlesticks, all of which are designed to draw attention to the altar, which has fine embroideries and adornments. The Churchyard and Wildlife With its many old monuments and flowery grassland, the churchyard at St. Mary’s has a special tranquil atmosphere. Many species of wildflower can be found here, including Buttercups, Black knapweed, Bird’s-foot trefoil and Selfheal. The grasses of the churchyard are valuable, too, for breeding butterflies, and both the Meadow brown and Ringlet may be seen fluttering across the churchyard in July. The oldest living organism in the churchyard is a veteran yew tree. Its girth exceeds 17 feet, and drifts of pollen are produced by its male cones in late winter.
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