19 Mar 2015
On Thursday 19th March a group of us from the Local History Circle came to the church for a guided tour from Trevor England. The church is hidden in trees some way from Packwood House, and so little visited. It has regular services and an active congregation and is kept open for visitors. Trevor knows the church well and so was able to tell us stories of the church history, and show us details like the signature of the carpenter who made the altar rail, and the remains of paint on the rood screen. St Giles mostly dates from the 13th Century, with a tower added in the 15th Century by Nicholas Broome of Baddesley Clinton, who also paid for a tower at St Michaels nearby as part of his penance for killing a priest. The church was modernised in the 19th C, and some of the interior decoration, such as hatchements, were bought by Baron Ash for Packwood House, where they can be seen. Even so much of the earlier detail still remains. A 14th doom painting on both sides of the Chancel arch has some parts still visible. The church has an old 12th C font, rescued from a nearby farmyard. A large oak chest used as the old parish safe, made out of a single log, probably predates the church.Trevor showed us the signature and details of the man who carved the alter rails written in red ink underneath a rail, so probably not noticed for hundreds of years.We went into the Fetherston Chapel which contains memorials to the family, and also a vault. They built Packwood House in the late 16th C and lived there until the last member died in 1864. Their coat of arms, with symbolic feathers, is found at a number of places in the church.On the west wall of the church is a monument, rescued from a church in Chessetts Wood which has been described in a Local History Circle talk some years back. It lists men who served in the Great War, both those who died and those who survived. The church tower has a peal of 8 bells, which can sometimes be heard at Packwood House, rung by local bell ringers. Outside the church Trevor pointed out a scratch sundial near the porch, and the memorial to Graham Baron Ash in a corner of the graveyard. Spring flowers were starting to show in the grass around the church, so completing an excellent and informative visit for our party. Many thanks to Trevor for being such a enthusiastic and informative guide.
A.P.
25/3/15
