St Mary's Church, Beverston

St Mary's is the parish church of Beverston, a village on the A4135 about 2 miles (3km) west of Tetbury, and it stands next to Beverston Castle. Norman, and probably on a Saxon site, it was enlarged by the castle's lords, and above its tower door is a carving of Christ made before the Norman Conquest. It is listed Grade II*.

History

The church's listing gives it a Norman foundation, probably on the site of a Saxon church. It was extended in about 1225, when Maurice de Gaunt was building the castle next door, and again in 1361 by Thomas Lord Berkeley, whose chapel on the north side is fourteenth century; the tracery of the east window matches the window of the castle chapel. In the nineteenth century the church was restored, probably by Lewis Vulliamy, the architect of Westonbirt House, and again later in the century. Today it is one of the village churches of the Tetbury benefice.

What to look for

Start outside. On the south side of the tower, above its pointed doorway, is a carved figure of Christ that the listing dates to before the Conquest, the oldest thing here. The two-stage tower has a Perpendicular top with battlements and crocketed pinnacles, and the south porch has a sundial over its gable. Then go in:

• The inner doorway of the porch, Norman, with crocket capitals on its shafts
• The south arcade of three bays, on round piers with trumpet-scallop capitals
• A Tudor carved stone pulpit in front of the old rood stair, and a chancel screen that is largely fifteenth-century timber
• The Berkeley chapel on the north side, joined to the chancel by an unusual three-bay squint passage with carved bosses on its roof
• A medieval octagonal font standing in a thirteenth-century tomb recess, altered by Vulliamy, and a large monument of 1763 to William Tugwell

Several churchyard monuments, among them the Webb monument south of the priest's door, are listed in their own right.

Visiting

St Mary's holds a service most Sunday mornings at 10am, Matins and Holy Communion in turn. We have not confirmed weekday opening, so check with the Tetbury benefice's parish office before a special trip. The castle next door is a private house, so the church and the village are as close as visitors get.

Getting there

Beverston is on the A4135 between Tetbury and Dursley. There is no car park, so park considerately by the church. None of our walks passes it.

Nearby

Beverston Castle is next door and private. Calcot Manor, with a restaurant, is about 3km away by road. In Tetbury, St Mary the Virgin heads the benefice, and the other old village churches round the town are St James's at Ashley and St Catherine's at Westonbirt.