Saint Mary's Minster Berkeley Gloucestershire

Welcome!

Inside St. Mary’s

Walking into the church one of the first things that impresses you are the wonderful wall paintings. These medieval paintings were covered up during the reformation, and were only rediscovered during a 19th Century restoration where they were found under layers of whitewash. They have suffered badly due to water damage, and are due to be completely restored in the third phase of the current restoration. A fine Doom painting, showing God in his Glory can be vaguely discerned over the rood screen.

THE WEST END: Below the tower window, with its interesting five arches, is the huge oak door. Again its use as a military defence can be seen in the musket loopholes cut into the wood. The glass in the window is Victorian, as is most of the stained glass in the church. A staircase that now leads into thin air, used to lead to the old choir stalls, located under the window.

THE SOUTH SIDE: This area is of interest as it contains all that remains of the old Norman church. The font with its horseshoe decoration, and the rounded South Door are the oldest part of the church.

THE EAST END: A fine example of late Decorated architecture, the east end is dominated by a huge window. The glass in the window is the parish’s memorial to Dr Edward Jenner, discoverer of the smallpox vaccine, and it appropriately shows many of the healing miracles of Christ. Note the little red devil towards the top of the window! To the left of the altar is the stone memorial to Jenner, and to the right is the memorial chapel of the Berkeley family, containing many fine medieval marble memorials.

THE AISLE: The aisle is dominated by a fine carved medieval rood screen, topped by the coats of arms of the Berkeley family and other nobility. Look at the carvings on the top of each column in the aisle, most notably the two ladies gossiping under a toad. A fine memorial to Thomas the fifth baron of Berkeley, and his wife Katherine can be seen on the right hand of the aisle; statues of his children can be seen on the window ledges in the South Aisle.

The church is currently going through a three phase restoration process. Phase one is completely with the main roof being repaired and the main body of the church being made watertight. Phase two, which is underway now is, going to repair the two North and South roof. Once the church is secure, phase three will concentrate on restoring the wall paintings, improving the facilities inside the church and rendering the outside stonework “weatherproof”.