The ornate portico in First Quad in Oriel College, Oxford, leads into the hall, with a doors on the right leading to the chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Patrick Comerford
Before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.
Throughout this week, I am reflecting in these ways:
1, One of the readings for the morning;
2, A reflection based on seven more churches or chapels in Oxford I have visited recently;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’
Oriel College, Oxford, was founded in 1324 as the House of the Blessed Mary at Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Luke 16: 1-8 (NRSVA):
1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” 3 Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” 6 He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” 7 Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.’
Inside the Chapel of Oriel College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The Chapel of Oriel College, Oxford:
Oriel College, on Oriel Square, is the oldest royal foundation in Oxford. In the past, the college has also been known as King’s College and King’s Hall, and the reigning monarch, Charles III, is the official visitor. Among its former members are two saints, Thomas More and John Henry Newman.
The original mediaeval foundation established in 1324 by Adam de Brome, under the patronage of Edward II, was the House of the Blessed Mary at Oxford, and the college received a royal charter in 1326. Oriel was the first college in Oxford to be founded in honour of the Virgin Mary.
An additional royal grant in 1329 of a manor house, La Oriole, eventually gave rise to its common name. The main site of the college incorporates four mediaeval halls: Bedel Hall, Saint Mary Hall, Saint Martin Hall, and Tackley’s Inn, the last being the oldest standing mediaeval hall in Oxford.
The first proposals allowed for a provost and ten fellows, called scholars, and the college remained a small body of graduate fellows until the 16th century, when it started to admit undergraduates.
The Provost of Oriel, Thomas Ware was one of the first to embrace the Reformation in the 16th century.
During the English Civil War, Oriel played host to high-ranking members of the king's Oxford Parliament.
The college has almost 40 fellows, about 300 undergraduates and some 250 graduates. Notable Oriel alumni include two Nobel laureates, and prominent fellows have included founders of the Oxford Movement.
The chapel has been a place of prayer and learning at the heart of Oriel since it was founded. The current chapel in the Front Quad or First Quad is Oriel’s third college. The ornate portico in the centre In the east range of First Quad leads into a hall, where doors on either side lead to the undercroft (left) and the chapel (right).
The first chapel was built around 1373 on the north side of First Quad. By 1566, during a visit by Queen Elizabeth I, the chapel was located on the south side of the quad. Little is known of those early chapels, although the college records refer to a ‘high altar’, ‘nave’, and ‘chancel’ and various furnishings.
The present chapel was consecrated in 1641, and despite restorations in the succeeding centuries, it largely retains its original appearance.
The bronze lectern was given to the college in 1654. The black and white marble paving dates from 1677 to 1678. Except for the pews on the west, dating from 1884, the panelling, stalls and screens are all 17th-century, as are the altar and carved communion rails.
Behind the altar is the oil-on-panel painting, ‘The Carrying of the Cross,’ also titled ‘Christ Falls, with the Cross, before a City Gate,’ by the Flemish Renaissance painter Bernard van Orley. The organ case dates from 1716. It was originally designed by Christopher Schreider for Saint Mary Abbots Church, Kensington, and was acquired by Oriel in 1884.
The oriel above the chapel entrance once formed part of a set of rooms occupied by Archbishop Richard Whately and by Cardinal John Henry Newman (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Above the entrance to the chapel is an oriel that, until the 1880s, was a room on the first floor that formed part of a set of rooms occupied by Richard Whately (1787-1863), and later by John Henry Newman (1801-1890).
Whately was a fellow of Oriel (1811-1821) and Drummond Professor of Political Economy in Oxford (1830-1831) before becoming Archbishop of Dublin (1831-1863). He is said to have used the space as a larder. He was a mentor of and later an opponent Newman, who is said to have used the same space for his private prayers.
John Henry Newman is among the most renowned figures associated with Oriel. He was a fellow of Oriel from 1822 to 1845. During these years he was also the college chaplain (1826-1831, 1833-1835) and Vicar of the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin (1828-1843).
Newman was the driving force behind the Oxford Movement, alongside John Keble (1792-1866) and Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), and Oriel is pre-eminently the college of the Oxford Movement, the first phase of which lasted from 1833-1845. Its proponents produced the Tracts for the Times, a series of 90 tracts on a wide range of religious subjects. This in turn gave them the name ‘Tractarians’.
Besides Newman, Keble and Pusey, other figures of the movement associated with Oriel included Robert Wilberforce (1802-1857), Richard Hurrell Froude (1803-36), GA Denison (1805-1896), Thomas Mozley (1806-1893), Charles Marriott (1811-1858) and RW Church (1815-1890).
Keble was a fellow 1811-1835, chaplain 1817-1823, and Professor of Poetry. Pusey was a fellow 1823-1828, Regius Professor of Hebrew and a canon of Christ Church. Samuel Wilberforce (1805-1873), an undergraduate of Oriel, Bishop of Oxford and then Winchester, was the founder of Cuddesdon Theological College (1854), now Ripon College Cuddesdon.
On the other hand, Thomas Arnold (1795-1842), fellow 1815-1827, headmaster of Rugby, then Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, was a supporter of the Broad Church movement.
The legacy of the Oxford Movement continues to inform life at Oriel. The college traditions include singing the ancient hymn Phos Hilaron (‘Hail Gladdening Light’) on feast days and other special occasions. The translation was produced by John Keble for Lyra apostolica, a collection of poems published in 1836.
When the organ was installed in 1884, the space once used by Whately and Newman was used for the blower. The wall that once separated the room from the ante-chapel was removed, making it accessible from the chapel. The organ was built by JW Walker & Sons in 1988.
The space behind the organ was rebuilt in 1991 as an oratory and memorial to Newman and the Oxford Movement. A new stained-glass window designed by Vivienne Haig and realised by Douglas Hogg was installed in 2001.
The chapel was last restored in the 1980s with the assistance of donations from Norma, Lady Dalrymple-Champneys. During this work, the chandelier was put back in place, the organ was restored, the painting mounted behind the altar, and the chapel repainted. A list of former chaplains and organ scholars was erected in the ante-chapel.
Recent Church figures associated with Oriel have also include Canon John Collins (1905-1982), chaplain 1937-1948, founder of Christian Action and a leading figure in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Anti-Apartheid Movement; John Hick (1922-2012), theologian and editor of The Myth of God Incarnate (1977); and John Baker (1928-2014), who was the principal author of the report The Church and the Bomb (1983).
• The Chaplain of Oriel College, the Revd Dr Rob Wainwright, is also a tutor in theology. The regular chapel services include: Sundays, Choral Evensong, 6 pm; Monday to Friday, Morning Prayer 8 am, Evening Prayer 6 pm; Wednesdays, Holy Communion 6 pm; Thursdays, Compline 9:30 pm.
.
The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi depicted in a stained-glass window in the chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Today’s Prayer (Friday 4 November 2022):
The Collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd David Rajiah, Diocesan Prayer Co-ordinator for the Diocese of West Malaysia.
The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:
We pray for countries like Malaysia, where Christianity is a minority religion. May everyone be treated respectfully and have their freedom of religion and belief protected.
Yesterday’s reflection tomorrow
Continued tomorrow</b>
Evening light pours into the chapel in Oriel College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Oriel College is pre-eminently the college of the first phase of the Oxford Movement (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
04 November 2022
A return visit to Great Linford to
see inside Saint Andrew’s Church
Saint Andrew’s Church in Great Linford, one of the ancient churches in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Patrick Comerford
I have visited Great Linford a number of times in recent week, walking along a stretch of the Grand Union Canal, enjoying lunch in the Black Horse, visiting Milton Keynes Arts Centre and strolling around Great Linford Manor Park.
But, until last week, I have only seen Saint Andrew’s Church from the outside.
However, I had an opportunity to visit Saint Andrew’s Church last week when two of us were in Great Linford Manor Park for a photo-shoot.
Saint Andrew’s Church nestles in a corner of the grounds of Great Linford Manor Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Nestling in the north-west corner of the grounds of Great Linford Manor Park, a 17th century manor house built by the Pritchard family, Saint Andrew’s has seen many changes and modifications over the centuries.
The name Linforde, which appears in the Domesday Book in 1086, refers to an area with two settlements on each bank of the River Ouse. The name Linford probably refers to the point of the river crossing where there were lime or linden trees. By the 13th century, these two settlements were in separate parishes, known as Little Linford to the north of the river and Great Linford to the south.
Saint Andrew’s is one of the ancient churches in Milton Keynes, and is the only place in Milton Keynes where definitive in situ evidence of late Saxon occupation has been discovered.
Excavations beneath the nave of the church suggest a late Saxon or very early Norman church stood on this site, with a simple nave and small chancel. At some time in the 12th century, the present church tower was abutted to the earlier nave and chancel and the western-most wall of the old nave was demolished. However, the roofline survives within the east face of the tower, within the present nave roof.
Over the following centuries, many other demolitions, extensions and alterations to the fabric of the building can be traced, while the internal fixtures and fittings have also been much repaired and altered to accommodate changing tastes and uses.
Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Today, the church consists of the tower, nave, chancel, south aisle and porch, north chapel and north porch, along with a recently added vestry.
A section of late mediaeval tile pavement has survived too, and at one point, the church may have had a steeple, and an effigy of a Green Man dates from the mediaeval period.
The earliest reference to a chapel at Great Linford appears in a charter dated 1151-1154. The first recorded rector of Saint Andrew’s was Geoffrey (or Galfridus) de Gibbewin in 1215. At the time of his death in 1235 he was insane, although he died not at Great Linford, but at Osney Abbey in Oxfordshire.
Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The barest hints remain of mediaeval paintings in Saint Andrew’s. These include a fragment of 13th century red scroll on the exposed parts of the tower arch.
When the 18th century wooden panelling was removed from the north wall of the nave, at least three periods of painted decoration could be seen. The earliest was a fragment of inscribed scroll that points to the prior existence of a large image.
A fragment found on the west wall of the chancel depicted a series of red and yellow skeletal legs. It is speculated that this would have been an image of the three living and the three dead, intended as an allegorical warning against the emptiness of earthly ranks and riches.
Another fragment of a ‘doom painting’ was found on the chancel arch.
The chancel and high altar in Saint Andrew’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The Pipard family held the manor from the 1180s until 1310, and seemed to be engaged in something of a tussle for ownership with the Butler of Ormond after the marriage of John Pipard’s daughter to an Edmund Butler. King Edward II briefly took control of the manor on the death of Edmund Butler in 1321, and restored the manor to John Pipard in 1323. But by 1328 the Butlers had regained the manor.
James Butler (1420-1461), 5th Earl of Ormond, was a staunch supporter of the House of Lancaster and after the Yorkist victory at Towton, he was beheaded at Newcastle on 1 May 1461. The manor then passed through a number of hands, first to a Richard Middleton and his heirs, then in 1467 to Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV and future wife of Henry VII.
She was followed by Gherardo di Bernardo Canigiani, a representative in London of the Medici bank of Florence, which was lending vast sums of money to Edward IV to shore up the crown.
The three-light East Window by John Oldrid Scott and Henry Victor Milner (1889) shows Christ in Glory with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Lawrence, Saint George, King Edmund, the Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
When Henry VII became king in 1485, ending the War of the Roses, he annulled the act of attainment against the Butlers, who remained Lords of the Manor until 1560.
Between 1322 and 1535, members of the Butler family of Ormond presented no less than 18 rectors of Great Linford.
The Lords of the Manor of Great Linford held the advowson of the parish or the right to nominate the rector until 1560, when Queen Elizabeth I granted it to a William Button and Thomas Escourt from Wiltshire. By 1590, the advowson had been acquired by Edward Kimpton, a London merchant, who appointed the Revd Richard Napier, who was Rector of Great Linford for over 40 years until he died in 1634.
The coat of arms of King Charles II in the church may date from the 1660s. It was damaged when the coved ceiling was added in 1707,.
The reredos was moved in the 1970s to an unusual place on the north wall, above the entrance from the north porch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The wealthy London merchant Sir William Prichard (or Pritchard) became the new Lord of the Manor in 1678. He knocked down and replaced the mediaeval manor and built the almshouses in the manor grounds. He died in 1705 and was buried in a family vault beneath the church.
His widow Sarah contributed to refurbishing the church in 1707. The mediaeval chancel was demolished and the original material was used to rebuild on the same foundations, while the nave was completely refurbished. The south aisle was also demolished and a new simple narrow replacement built, and the south porch was remodelled. The steeple may have been removed at this time.
The village of Great Linford grew in importance following the construction in 1800 of the Grand Junction Canal and associated wharf to serve Newport Pagnell.
The Revd Christopher Smyth was curate in 1836-1838. Other curates who lived at the Rectory included the Revd Lawson Shan, the Revd Edmund Smyth and his son the Revd William Smyth. The Revd Sidney Herbert Williams played a significant role in the management of Saint Andrew’s School on the High Street.
The Revd William Andrewes Uthwatt (1793-1877) was the titular Lord of the Manor of Great Linford from 1855, but rarely visited the area, and appointed the Revd Francis Litchfield as rector in 1838. Litchfield was Rector of Great Linford in 1838-1876, but he was an absentee pluralist who lived at Farthinghoe in Northamptonshire. Instead, curates lived in the Rectory in Great Linford.
The 12th century tower is the oldest part of the present church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The 12th century tower is the oldest part of the present church. After the weight of the tower had unsettled the foundations and distorted the tower arch, the church was refurbished in 1884.
A new baptismal font was presented to the church by the Clode Family, Mrs Uthwatt gave a new lectern, and a new organ was installed in 1887 by Mr Atterton, of Leighton Buzzard, with an organ recital by Mr B Wilford, of Newport Pagnell.
By 1911, the Uthwatts were no longer living at the Manor House, which was rented to the Mead family. But in 1922, Thomas Andrewes-Uthwatt appointed his son, the Revd Henry Andrewes-Uthwatt, as Rector, and the Uthwatt family continued to present until 1932.
Saint Andrew’s has three good examples of 15th to 17th century brasses commemorating Sir Roger Hunt and his wife Joan, Thomas and Elizabeth Malyn and Anne and John Uvedall.
A large white marble monument on the west wall of the north chapel commemorates Sir William Pritchard and a similar one on the east wall recalls Thomas and Catherine Uthwatt, later owners of the manor.
Considerable refurbishment were carried out in the early 18th century including rebuilding the chancel, south aisle and porch. The pulpit also dates from 1707.
Saint Andrew’s has a full set of six bells made by Joseph Eyre and installed in 1756.
A late mediaeval timber roof of the King Post type and carved bosses were revealed during the work in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the mediaeval wall paintings were plastered over at the time, the mediaeval stained glass was removed, and a small 13th century holy water stoup inside the north door was damaged.
The late 19th century saw the addition of new stained glass, oil lights, furniture, remodelled pews and heating.
Two windows in the south aisle, depicting the raising of Jairus’ daughter (1910) and the Good Samaritan window (1904), and are by Charles Eamer Kempe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The three-light East Window by John Oldrid Scott and Henry Victor Milner (1889) shows Christ in Glory with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Lawrence, Saint George, King Edmund, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine. Both the East Window and the Reredos below it were erected in memory of Mary Uthwatt of Great Linford, who died in 1885.
The reredos was moved in the 1970s to an unusual place on the north wall, above the entrance from the north porch. This triptych shows the Transfiguration in the centre, with Saint Andrew on the left, and Saint Philip on the right.
Two windows in the south aisle, the Good Samaritan window (1904) and the raising of Jairus’ daughter (1910), are by Charles Eamer Kempe.
The large limestone font probably dates from the late 19th century. The most valuable items of church plate are on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Linford Manor is now owned by Pete Winkelman, chairman of Milton Keynes Dons FC. The former stables and associated gate houses are now an Arts Centre. The former almshouses are not in use, but are scheduled to be restored.
In response to the changes introduced by the new city of Milton Keynes, Saint Andrew’s was redecorated in 1980, with the addition of a vestry, kitchen and toilet, and the pews were removed and replaced by individual seating. The work was assisted by the Archaeology Unit of Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
A blocked archway on the east end of the south wall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Saint Andrew’s Church serves the Great Linford, Giffard Park, Blakelands and Redhouse Park areas. It is one of the six churches in the Stantonbury Ecumenical Partnership in north-east Milton Keynes, which serves the areas of and near Bradwell, New Bradwell, Stantonbury, Great Linford, Downs Barn and Willen.
Ministry at Saint Andrew’s is shared between several lay and ordained ministers, and three licensed ministers look after Saint Andrew’s, sharing pastoral leadership: Canon Chuks Iwuagwu, the Rev David Lewis, a Baptist minister, and Colin Taylor.
Saint Andrew’s is a member of the Quiet Garden Movement that nurtures low cost, accessible, outdoor space for prayer, contemplation, rest and inspiration in a variety of settings. The garden beside the church is always open.
Saint Andrew’s has a strong musical tradition which finds expression in worship and occasional concerts. The church orchestra welcomes juniors, a children’s choir meets on Wednesday evenings and an adult choir rehearses for special occasions, including Easter and Christmas.
Sunday Services are at 10 am and include: Open Door, an informal family service (first Sundays), Holy Communion (second, fourth and fifth Sundays), and Baptisms (third Sundays), followed by Holy Communion at 11:15 am.
Holy Communion is celebrated at 10 am on the first Wednesday each month, after which the church remains open until 12.30pm for discussion groups, coffee and to welcome visitors.
Saint Andrew’s is one of the six churches in the Stantonbury Ecumenical Partnership in north-east Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Patrick Comerford
I have visited Great Linford a number of times in recent week, walking along a stretch of the Grand Union Canal, enjoying lunch in the Black Horse, visiting Milton Keynes Arts Centre and strolling around Great Linford Manor Park.
But, until last week, I have only seen Saint Andrew’s Church from the outside.
However, I had an opportunity to visit Saint Andrew’s Church last week when two of us were in Great Linford Manor Park for a photo-shoot.
Saint Andrew’s Church nestles in a corner of the grounds of Great Linford Manor Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Nestling in the north-west corner of the grounds of Great Linford Manor Park, a 17th century manor house built by the Pritchard family, Saint Andrew’s has seen many changes and modifications over the centuries.
The name Linforde, which appears in the Domesday Book in 1086, refers to an area with two settlements on each bank of the River Ouse. The name Linford probably refers to the point of the river crossing where there were lime or linden trees. By the 13th century, these two settlements were in separate parishes, known as Little Linford to the north of the river and Great Linford to the south.
Saint Andrew’s is one of the ancient churches in Milton Keynes, and is the only place in Milton Keynes where definitive in situ evidence of late Saxon occupation has been discovered.
Excavations beneath the nave of the church suggest a late Saxon or very early Norman church stood on this site, with a simple nave and small chancel. At some time in the 12th century, the present church tower was abutted to the earlier nave and chancel and the western-most wall of the old nave was demolished. However, the roofline survives within the east face of the tower, within the present nave roof.
Over the following centuries, many other demolitions, extensions and alterations to the fabric of the building can be traced, while the internal fixtures and fittings have also been much repaired and altered to accommodate changing tastes and uses.
Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Today, the church consists of the tower, nave, chancel, south aisle and porch, north chapel and north porch, along with a recently added vestry.
A section of late mediaeval tile pavement has survived too, and at one point, the church may have had a steeple, and an effigy of a Green Man dates from the mediaeval period.
The earliest reference to a chapel at Great Linford appears in a charter dated 1151-1154. The first recorded rector of Saint Andrew’s was Geoffrey (or Galfridus) de Gibbewin in 1215. At the time of his death in 1235 he was insane, although he died not at Great Linford, but at Osney Abbey in Oxfordshire.
Inside Saint Andrew’s Church, facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The barest hints remain of mediaeval paintings in Saint Andrew’s. These include a fragment of 13th century red scroll on the exposed parts of the tower arch.
When the 18th century wooden panelling was removed from the north wall of the nave, at least three periods of painted decoration could be seen. The earliest was a fragment of inscribed scroll that points to the prior existence of a large image.
A fragment found on the west wall of the chancel depicted a series of red and yellow skeletal legs. It is speculated that this would have been an image of the three living and the three dead, intended as an allegorical warning against the emptiness of earthly ranks and riches.
Another fragment of a ‘doom painting’ was found on the chancel arch.
The chancel and high altar in Saint Andrew’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The Pipard family held the manor from the 1180s until 1310, and seemed to be engaged in something of a tussle for ownership with the Butler of Ormond after the marriage of John Pipard’s daughter to an Edmund Butler. King Edward II briefly took control of the manor on the death of Edmund Butler in 1321, and restored the manor to John Pipard in 1323. But by 1328 the Butlers had regained the manor.
James Butler (1420-1461), 5th Earl of Ormond, was a staunch supporter of the House of Lancaster and after the Yorkist victory at Towton, he was beheaded at Newcastle on 1 May 1461. The manor then passed through a number of hands, first to a Richard Middleton and his heirs, then in 1467 to Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV and future wife of Henry VII.
She was followed by Gherardo di Bernardo Canigiani, a representative in London of the Medici bank of Florence, which was lending vast sums of money to Edward IV to shore up the crown.
The three-light East Window by John Oldrid Scott and Henry Victor Milner (1889) shows Christ in Glory with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Lawrence, Saint George, King Edmund, the Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
When Henry VII became king in 1485, ending the War of the Roses, he annulled the act of attainment against the Butlers, who remained Lords of the Manor until 1560.
Between 1322 and 1535, members of the Butler family of Ormond presented no less than 18 rectors of Great Linford.
The Lords of the Manor of Great Linford held the advowson of the parish or the right to nominate the rector until 1560, when Queen Elizabeth I granted it to a William Button and Thomas Escourt from Wiltshire. By 1590, the advowson had been acquired by Edward Kimpton, a London merchant, who appointed the Revd Richard Napier, who was Rector of Great Linford for over 40 years until he died in 1634.
The coat of arms of King Charles II in the church may date from the 1660s. It was damaged when the coved ceiling was added in 1707,.
The reredos was moved in the 1970s to an unusual place on the north wall, above the entrance from the north porch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The wealthy London merchant Sir William Prichard (or Pritchard) became the new Lord of the Manor in 1678. He knocked down and replaced the mediaeval manor and built the almshouses in the manor grounds. He died in 1705 and was buried in a family vault beneath the church.
His widow Sarah contributed to refurbishing the church in 1707. The mediaeval chancel was demolished and the original material was used to rebuild on the same foundations, while the nave was completely refurbished. The south aisle was also demolished and a new simple narrow replacement built, and the south porch was remodelled. The steeple may have been removed at this time.
The village of Great Linford grew in importance following the construction in 1800 of the Grand Junction Canal and associated wharf to serve Newport Pagnell.
The Revd Christopher Smyth was curate in 1836-1838. Other curates who lived at the Rectory included the Revd Lawson Shan, the Revd Edmund Smyth and his son the Revd William Smyth. The Revd Sidney Herbert Williams played a significant role in the management of Saint Andrew’s School on the High Street.
The Revd William Andrewes Uthwatt (1793-1877) was the titular Lord of the Manor of Great Linford from 1855, but rarely visited the area, and appointed the Revd Francis Litchfield as rector in 1838. Litchfield was Rector of Great Linford in 1838-1876, but he was an absentee pluralist who lived at Farthinghoe in Northamptonshire. Instead, curates lived in the Rectory in Great Linford.
The 12th century tower is the oldest part of the present church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The 12th century tower is the oldest part of the present church. After the weight of the tower had unsettled the foundations and distorted the tower arch, the church was refurbished in 1884.
A new baptismal font was presented to the church by the Clode Family, Mrs Uthwatt gave a new lectern, and a new organ was installed in 1887 by Mr Atterton, of Leighton Buzzard, with an organ recital by Mr B Wilford, of Newport Pagnell.
By 1911, the Uthwatts were no longer living at the Manor House, which was rented to the Mead family. But in 1922, Thomas Andrewes-Uthwatt appointed his son, the Revd Henry Andrewes-Uthwatt, as Rector, and the Uthwatt family continued to present until 1932.
Saint Andrew’s has three good examples of 15th to 17th century brasses commemorating Sir Roger Hunt and his wife Joan, Thomas and Elizabeth Malyn and Anne and John Uvedall.
A large white marble monument on the west wall of the north chapel commemorates Sir William Pritchard and a similar one on the east wall recalls Thomas and Catherine Uthwatt, later owners of the manor.
Considerable refurbishment were carried out in the early 18th century including rebuilding the chancel, south aisle and porch. The pulpit also dates from 1707.
Saint Andrew’s has a full set of six bells made by Joseph Eyre and installed in 1756.
A late mediaeval timber roof of the King Post type and carved bosses were revealed during the work in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the mediaeval wall paintings were plastered over at the time, the mediaeval stained glass was removed, and a small 13th century holy water stoup inside the north door was damaged.
The late 19th century saw the addition of new stained glass, oil lights, furniture, remodelled pews and heating.
Two windows in the south aisle, depicting the raising of Jairus’ daughter (1910) and the Good Samaritan window (1904), and are by Charles Eamer Kempe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
The three-light East Window by John Oldrid Scott and Henry Victor Milner (1889) shows Christ in Glory with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Lawrence, Saint George, King Edmund, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine. Both the East Window and the Reredos below it were erected in memory of Mary Uthwatt of Great Linford, who died in 1885.
The reredos was moved in the 1970s to an unusual place on the north wall, above the entrance from the north porch. This triptych shows the Transfiguration in the centre, with Saint Andrew on the left, and Saint Philip on the right.
Two windows in the south aisle, the Good Samaritan window (1904) and the raising of Jairus’ daughter (1910), are by Charles Eamer Kempe.
The large limestone font probably dates from the late 19th century. The most valuable items of church plate are on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Linford Manor is now owned by Pete Winkelman, chairman of Milton Keynes Dons FC. The former stables and associated gate houses are now an Arts Centre. The former almshouses are not in use, but are scheduled to be restored.
In response to the changes introduced by the new city of Milton Keynes, Saint Andrew’s was redecorated in 1980, with the addition of a vestry, kitchen and toilet, and the pews were removed and replaced by individual seating. The work was assisted by the Archaeology Unit of Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
A blocked archway on the east end of the south wall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
Saint Andrew’s Church serves the Great Linford, Giffard Park, Blakelands and Redhouse Park areas. It is one of the six churches in the Stantonbury Ecumenical Partnership in north-east Milton Keynes, which serves the areas of and near Bradwell, New Bradwell, Stantonbury, Great Linford, Downs Barn and Willen.
Ministry at Saint Andrew’s is shared between several lay and ordained ministers, and three licensed ministers look after Saint Andrew’s, sharing pastoral leadership: Canon Chuks Iwuagwu, the Rev David Lewis, a Baptist minister, and Colin Taylor.
Saint Andrew’s is a member of the Quiet Garden Movement that nurtures low cost, accessible, outdoor space for prayer, contemplation, rest and inspiration in a variety of settings. The garden beside the church is always open.
Saint Andrew’s has a strong musical tradition which finds expression in worship and occasional concerts. The church orchestra welcomes juniors, a children’s choir meets on Wednesday evenings and an adult choir rehearses for special occasions, including Easter and Christmas.
Sunday Services are at 10 am and include: Open Door, an informal family service (first Sundays), Holy Communion (second, fourth and fifth Sundays), and Baptisms (third Sundays), followed by Holy Communion at 11:15 am.
Holy Communion is celebrated at 10 am on the first Wednesday each month, after which the church remains open until 12.30pm for discussion groups, coffee and to welcome visitors.
Saint Andrew’s is one of the six churches in the Stantonbury Ecumenical Partnership in north-east Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)
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