The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Newington

Newington's Grade I listed parish church was close to the start of our walk and certainly merited a short detour. It was built in the second half of the 12th century, with 13th and 14th century additions. At one time it belonged to our old friend Henry VIII, but today's patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury. So howzat for an ultra-condensed history!

Today it was Remembrance Sunday and the red clay poppies were laid out to the left of the entrance porch ready for the outdoor part of the service.




This is where the outdoor part of the service took place, but out of respect for the privacy of the attendees, I did not place any pictures of the actual proceedings on this web page.
Newington's two oast-houses are in the background.




Centuries of history seem to ooze from the ancient brickwork.




Some flowers in the porch welcome the parishioners.

Nave and Murals

Murals of biblical scenes often graced parish churches until Cromwell, purist that he was, suggested that this way of educating the illiterate residents of a parish was not on. He ordered such church paintings to be white-washed over. Centuries later, the white-wash in many churches was removed to reveal often quite detailed paintings and an insight into a facet of mediaeval religious educational practice. In Newington's church, these paintings are in an aisle parallel to the main nave.

Here is the nave and ...




... here are the murals ...




... covering two walls.

Wall Monuments and Artefacts

There are so many wall monuments and artefacts, and the amount of information and inferences we can derive from them is legion. Therefore, in this short space of time we can only really present the inscriptions and, where appropriate, the very briefest of comments.

• John Brook †1594
• Joseph Hasted †1732
• Captain Thomas Browne †1747 and Family
• James Hudson †1827
• Benefactions to the Poor (1864)
• Mary Ann Ludgater †1896

John Brook †1594

John Brook's monument is in typical Tudor style. The Brook "clan" were probably quite wealthy, and for the time, enjoyed a fair amount of education.




The inscription reads:

HIC SITVS EST JOHANNES BROOK ARMIGER, ILLVSTRISSIMI
HEROIS DOMINI GEORGII BROOK, DOMINI DE COBHAM
FILIVS TERTIVS : QVI IN PACE APVD SVOS OPTIMA FAMA
VIXIT, IN PRAELIO BELGICO FACTVS PEDITV EQVITIMO
ANGLICORVM ARCHISTRATEGVS CONTRA HISPANOS
FORTITER FAELICTERQVE PVGNAVIT : TANDEM IN PATRIA
VITA PIE DEFVNCTVS PLACIDE IN DEO OBDORMIVIT :
VICESSIMO QVINTO DIE MENSIS SEPTEMBRIS ANO
DEI 1594

GVLIELMVS ET GEORGIVS BROOK FRATRES PATRVO
SVO CHARISSIMO MONVMENTVM POSVERVNT.

------------

My humble, "best efforts", translation is:

"Here lies John Brook, bearer of arms, third son of the most illustrious hero, Lord George Brook, Lord of Cobham. In peace time he [John Brook], enjoyed the best reputation among his friends. In the Belgian War he [John Brook] was made commander of the English infantry and cavalry and he fought bravely and successfully against the Spanish. Eventually, in his native land, his virtuous life came to an end and he fell asleep peacefully in [the hands of] God on the 25th day of the month of September in the year of God 1594.

"William and George Brook, brothers to his most beloved paternal uncle, erected this monument."

------------

Note: "Belgian" and "Spanish" in the context of the Spanish Netherlands.
The Hapsburgs ruled OK!

Joseph Hasted †1732

One-and-a-half centuries later, the style of church monuments had noticeably changed.




Near this place lieth Interred the Body of
IOSEPH HASTED late of Chatham in this County Gent
who departed this Life the 22^d day of Ianuary 1732
in the 71^st Year of his Age

Captain Thomas Browne †1747 and Family

Near this place lies Interrd
the Body of CAPT THO BROWNE
late of Tottenham in the County
of Middlesex,
many Years Commander in the
Italian and Turkey Trades who died
Iuly 29th 1747 AEtat 55

Here also lyeth Elizth BROWNE
Wife of CAP THOS BROWNE
who dies at Bath
May 22d 1754 AEtat 60

Here also lyeth
ANN SPEARMAN
Daughter of the above
Capt THOMAS
and Elizth BROWNE
who Departed this Life
May the 9th 1768
Aged 42 Years

James Hudson †1827

James Hudson had at least two monuments:
wall mounted, as here, and as a floor slab, as described below.




Here are two excerpts from the inscription.

------------

IN A VAULT IN THIS CHANCEL ARE DEPOSITED THE EARTHLY REMAINS OF
JAMES HUDSON,
LATE OF THIS PARISH,
...

HE DIED IN CONSEQUENCE OF A FALL FROM HIS HORSE,
ON THE 2ND OF AUGUST 1827, AGED 53 YEARS.
...

Benefactions to the Poor (1864)

Benefactions to the poor are often stated in English parish churches: a typical example can be seen here in Newington. The message reads as follows.

------------

BENEFACTIONS
to the                  Poor
of NEWINGTON

Mary Ann Ludgater †1896

Mary Ann Ludgater was wife of the churchwarden, W. Ludgater, mentioned above in the list of "Benefactions". The inscription reads as follows.

------------

In
Thankful and Loving Memory of
MARY ANN
WIDOW OF THE LATE
W. LUDGATER ESQ.
OF THIS PARISH,
WHO, AFTER YEARS OF TERRIBLE SUFFERING
BORNE WITH THE UTMOST PATIENCE,
PASSED PEACEFULLY AWAY
ON THE EVENING
OF SEPTEMBER 21^ST 1896,
AGED 87 YEARS.

Stone Floor Slabs

By nonchalantly walking on the stone slabs embedded in many a church floor, we are often covering several hundred years of history - local and national. Newington's church provides us with interesting examples!

• Tudor
• Georgian
• Early Victorian

Frances Holbrok †1587

Frances Holbrok died in Tudor times, in 1587 in the reign of Elizabeth I. He married twice and, apparently, had thirteen children, although, how many survived into adulthood we do not know.

Here is the floor slab, with brass inserts carefully placed on the said floor slab.




Frances Holbrok had 10 children by his first wife, as shown on the left hand side. Apparently, his second wife gave him 3 more children, although the brass insert on the right hand side appears to have got lost somehow.

The inscription reads in Tudor English as follows:

"Here lyeth buryed under this stone the body of Fraunces Holbrok gent who
depted in ye faythe of Christ ye xv of Aprill 1587. I hearde a voice from heaven
sayinge unto me, write blessed are ye deade which hearafter dye in ye Lorde even so saythe
the spirite for they rest from their laboures, and their workes followe them."


    

These two crests might somehow be the result of Frances's two marriages.
The right hand crest doubles up the two halves of the first crest.
A Tudor mystery ripe for further investigation!

Hasted †1732

Joseph Hasted died in 1732 in the reign of George II. 150 years after Frances Holbrok. The script on the stone floor slab has now become much more readable. Joseph Hasted obviously had some standing in the local community, but his claim to local fame is not immediately obvious to the visitor. This is the same "Hasted" as in the previous section above. Two monuments "for the price of one" - perhaps to make sure that he was not forgotten.

Who was Joseph Hasted? More investigatory opportunities for "history buffs"?

Becker & Hudson (1823 to 1850)

This stone slab is shared by two families: the Beckers and the Hudsons. Why so? Did financial pressures at the time suggest this cooperation? The dates on the slab span the reigns of William IV and Queen Victoria.

Why was this stone slab shared by two families? The respective ages of death are interesting to note and to compare with those of our own present age.
The same James Hudson is the subject of the wall monument in the previous section.

Good Bye

It's time to leave our dip into history behind us and enter the sunny here and now to start our walk today. The good weather beckons as we enter the present through the ancient porch, which has witnessed many comings and goings over the centuries. Today, we have only skimmed the surface of the rich history associated with this interesting church.

The autumn sun beckons ...




... as we make the transition from the past into the sunny here and now.

Thank You

We visited this church on Fraser and Vera's enjoyable late autumn walk on 13th November, 2016. (I give the link in case you reached this page from other pages not directly connected with the this walk). Thank you, Fraser and Vera, and thank you to all on this walk for your enjoyable company.