Stottesdon

St Mary's Church

DY14 8UE  parking on road, disabled ramp available, open 9am-4pm

Sacred space for almost 1000 years and off-the-beaten-track, St Mary's Church, Grade 1 listed and built of local stone, blends
perfectly with the peace and quiet of the Shropshire Hills - with the nearby Clee Hill (as seen on Hereford’s ‘Mappa Mundi’) silently standing guard over the tranquil churchyard, and the Rea valley beyond.

The crudely carved hunting scene on the Tympanum above the
Saxon west door, protected from the elements by the later Norman Tower, is the earliest clue in the history of sacred buildings here.
The Domesday Book (1086) has the first written record of this parish church, which largely dates from the period 1060 – 1270 and reflects the Norman and early English styles of architecture.

The intricately carved stone font is a treasure (created c.1138) by the legendary Hereford School of Romanesque Sculpture. More recently (c.1620) the Jacobeans added a splendidly carved wooden pulpit and, more recently still, the Arts and Crafts Rood Screen wasadded to the Chancel arch (1901). Other features include medieval floor tiles, some wonderful stained glass and in the tower, alongside 4
bells (1752) cast by Abel Rudhall, Gloucester, a turret clock (1855) by Joyce of Whitchurch.

Find St Mary's on the Internet at www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10731

Visit the Stottesdon Benefice Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/Stottesdon-Benefice-780588545476755/