The North Aisle or Lady Chapel
The stone vaults between the Chancel and the North aisle are of the Lawford family, and of John Silcocks who founded a charity for the needy of the Parish.
The fourteenth century East window with its "face among the fragments" is the only piece of old stained glass left after Cromwell's men came during the Civil War and can be seen above the 1914-18 war memorial window.
The Font, partly built into the North wall, is Norman. Its dog-toothed pattern was discovered by the Vicar's wife in the 1920's and was later restored. In the 1950's Douglas Williams made the lid from an oak builder's plank found by Vicar Evans. At the same time he also made a frame for a triptych which a local artist Jack Curtis had painted of St Michael and two saints. It was not passed by the diocese for hanging in the church so was stored (temporarily) in the vestry for 20 - 30 years until it was returned to the artist's widow. Jack Curtis had inserted a very small unnoticeable picture of the Britannia aeroplane which was lost in the mud of the River Severn. This was during the last year of Vicar Evans' incumbency. When the heating system was changed Doug remembers covering the old metal pipes under the grills with rubble and concrete. The Orthodox Cross on the inside of the font lid was previously in the sanctuary and was fixed there by Vicar Donald Shiels in the 1960's. The stained glass window of St. Michael was given by a former matron of Stoke Park, commemorating the hospital's 60 years association with the Church.
Maintenance and Preservation
The church was restored in 1894 by Lingen Barker, the Duke of Beaufort's architect. A new roof was put on the nave, the old oak box pews were removed, and a new pulpit, vicar's stall, lectern and pews were installed. Some eighteenth century panelling was discovered at the West end, but there is now no trace of this.The belfry and tower needed major repairs in the late 1920's and 1960's. The Church has a fabric committee whose task is to maintain and preserve the structure and its contents in a safe and usable condition and to undertake to complete as many tasks as possible identified in the Quinquennial Report (Paul Smith 1996). Every five years an inspection, funded by the diocese, is undertaken by the church architect. His report is sent to the church and diocese. It indicates the work that needs to be carried out under three categories - urgent, essential and if possible. Payment for this work comes from church funds, but personal donations are given for specific purposes, such as the new sound system and commandment boards restoration. Much valuable work such as churchyard maintenance, dry-stone walling, inside decoration and chattels etc. has always been done by stalwart volunteers.
Until the twentieth century the Lords of the Manor bore the brunt of the responsibility for maintenance, but especially during recent years the parishioners alone have met each crisis with tremendous money raising efforts. As time goes on, the building has become much more expensive to preserve. It has stood the test of time since the Wars of the Roses to the present time and always it has been the House of God for the faithful, to meet and pray and worship
Reproduced with the kind permission of the author ©1997 Ros Broomhead
