St Mary's Church, Batsford

This Place of Worship was founded before 1562. The present St Mary's Church is the third such building on its site. The first medieval church fell into disrepair after the Reformation, but was rebuilt in 1774, "in classical style". The present building dates from 1861-2, designed by W.F. Poulton of Reading, as "Neo-Norman Gothic", was its replacement.With a tower and steeple giving it the appearance of a "wedding-cake", of separate layers, it could (in my opinion) lose the steeple, and the tower, with pinnacles at each of its four corners would stand quite proudly alone.The stained glass windows are by C.E. Kempe, and date from 1888. His signature, the Kempe Wheatsheaf, can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of a window in the chancel.Batsford village is 1½ miles west of Moreton in Marsh, and is better known for its Arboretum. In the 8th century, Batsford was part of a sheep-rearing estate given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Ethelbald. However there is no priest mentioned in Domesday, so presumably its first church post-dates 1086.Both Batsford Park, and St Mary's Church are now Grade II Listed

Pretty village and church of Batsford and Arboretum