St Mary's Church, Guildford Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids History
St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church from Quarry Street
St Mary's Church, Guildford Location in Surrey
51°14′05″N 0°34′39″W / 51.2346°N 0.5774°W / 51.2346; -0.5774
OS grid reference	SU 99614 49344
Location	Quarry Street, Guildford
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England / Methodist
Churchmanship	Liberal
Dedication	St Mary
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	1 May 1953
Specifications
Materials	Flint and chalk rubble
Bells	6
Tenor bell weight	15 long cwt (1,700 lb or 800 kg)
Administration
Parish	Holy Trinity and St Mary

St Mary's Church is a very old Anglican church in Guildford, England. Its Anglo-Saxon tower is the oldest building part still standing in the whole town! A famous writer, Lewis Carroll (who wrote Alice in Wonderland), even preached here, and his funeral was held at the church in 1898. St Mary's Church is considered a Grade I listed building, which means it's a really important historical site. It is part of the Diocese of Guildford.

History of St Mary's Church
Design and Features of the Church
Lewis Carroll's Connection
Gallery
Images for kids
See also

History of St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church is thought to be built on the same spot as Guildford's very first church. That first church was probably a small wooden building from around 600 AD. The stone Anglo-Saxon church we see today was built around 1040 AD. Its tower, made of rough flint, is the oldest surviving building in Guildford. It is even older than the nearby Guildford Castle by at least 70 years!

Because the castle was a popular home for kings in the 1100s and 1200s, St Mary's Church was sometimes used for royal worship. It's possible that Thomas Becket, a famous archbishop, even led a Mass here. In 1274, Henry, the six-year-old son of King Edward I, was very sick at the castle. Thirteen widows stayed up all night praying for him in the church, but he sadly passed away. After he died, three special Masses were held in St Mary's for his soul.

Around 1120, a group of religious people called canons from Merton Priory took over St Mary's. They rebuilt the church, giving it the cross shape we see today. In the 1140s, the St John's chapel was added to the south side. Much of the church building you see now dates from the 1180s. The chancel (the part of the church near the altar) used to have a rounded end, but this was taken down in 1825.

In the 1300s, many new windows were put into the church. The large east window in the chancel, from the 1400s, has five special pointed arches with fancy stone patterns above them. During the English Reformation (a time of big changes in the church), the way churches were decorated changed a lot. However, many of the stone carvings called corbels survived. One on the south side shows ravens feeding the prophet Elijah. Two other corbels in the north aisle, which were carved to look like angels, still show signs of damage from that period.

In a more recent change, Guildford Methodist Church officially joined St Mary's on September 1, 2013. Now, the church is a joint Anglican and Methodist congregation. It is also part of a combined parish with the nearby Holy Trinity Church.

Design and Features of the Church

In 1825, the chancel of the church was made shorter. This was done to make Quarry Street, the road next to the church, wider. In 1862, St Mary's was restored by an architect named Thomas Goodchild. During this work, the stone parts were repaired, and a gallery inside the church was removed. Even with these changes, Goodchild's restoration kept the original parts of the church from the 1000s and 1100s.

Most of the outside walls (except the tower and the east wall, which is made of chalk) have been covered with flint stone. All the buttresses (supports on the outside walls) are from the Victorian era, except for one. The beautiful East window was made by William Holland. It shows important Bible scenes like the birth of Jesus, his baptism, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven. The West window in the north aisle was made by the Royal Bavarian Art Institute for Stained Glass around 1850.

The font (where baptisms take place) is Victorian. It has a square bowl made of clunch (a type of soft limestone) with a wavy edge underneath. It sits on a square stone base and four smaller stone pillars with decorative tops. The pulpit (where sermons are given) was added by Goodchild. It is made of stone and marble and replaced an older one from the 1600s.

Lewis Carroll's Connection

The pulpit from which "Lewis Carroll" preached

The famous author Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, sometimes preached from the pulpit you can see in the church today. He would do this when he was staying with his family at their home nearby, called The Chestnuts. St Mary's Church was also the place where his funeral was held after he passed away.