Parish church Grade I listed. Nave C12th Norman; chancel enlarged from smaller semi-circular aspidal form in the early C13th ( some original Norman work can be seen in the western part of the Chancel ); west tower c1480; nave heightened and re-roofed in C15th; south porch probably C18th; north aisle, north vestry and general restoration 1887. Built of flint rubble with stone dressings, the steep old red tile roofs, pyramidal to the tower topped by lead covered standing cross with octagonal tapered shaft. Low pitched lead roof to the nave.
Long rectangular chancel, taller nave with added north aisle and gabled north-east vestry, gabled south porch, tall west tower with crenellated parapet and diagonal buttresses at the west angles.
The C13th east windows of the Chancel,probably of three lancets, were replaced c1500 by a window of three cinquefoil lights, but the C13th interior jambs with edge-roll moulding and part of the arch remain. In the north wall are two C13th lancets and a door to the C19th vestry, the C13th lancets moved here from the old north wall of the nave when the north aisle was added in 1887. At the east end of the south wall is a C13th lancet window and at the west end a pointed segmental arched window c1500 with three cinquefoil lights and disturbed masonry below the cill at the position of a probable low-side window. The jambs of a C12th south doorway remains between the windows, this door is blocked externally and the head adapted as a pointed window in the C13th. The early C13th double piscina to the south of the altar has pointed arches formed by intersecting boldly moulded semi-circular arches similar to a C12th design much admired and its use continued to later centuries carried on one whole and two half columns within a square moulded frame. This was a gem hidden for many years, now thankfully restored.
Patterned vivid stained glass c1841 in lancets to north and south of altar. The stone reredos is C19th with a gabled central aedicule and arcaded flanking parts with painted panels. Encaustic tile patterned floor to chancel and indent for brass in slab by door to vestry. Elaborate C19th open timber roof in three bays with ridge-piece and rafters individually strutted from two purlins horizontally and vertically. The pointed segmental chancel arch is late C15th of two orders opened from the C12th arch of the original church, the inner with half octagonal pilasters with moulded caps, and much reused stone seen in the irregular curves. The C15th oak rood-screen has plain lower panels, three bays of two cinquefoil tracery lights each side of the arched entrance with an embattled cresting, it is said to have the base of the central cross remaining.
The Nave has two windows in the south wall and a clearstorey above. The eastern window c1330 has two cinquefoil lights and two-centred arched head with quatrefoil. The C15th western window is similar but with a four-centred arched head. The south door is set in the lower part of a tall recess with C12th semi-circular arched head. A piscina below the eastern window has a C12th Norman scalloped capital hollowed out on top for the drain within a C14th chamfered trefoil recess. Adjoining the north jamb of the chancel arch is a tall shallow C15th niche with a two-centred arch in a moulded rectangular frame. The semi-circular headed C12th former north doorway of the nave has been re-used as an entrance to the vestry from the north aisle.
The eastern window in the north wall of the north aisle is a C14th window re-set from the original north wall of the nave. Three-bays C15th open timber roof is carried on stone corbels, moulded four to the middle part but carved heads at the corners. Wall-posts and moulded long curved braces support the heavy cambered and moulded tie-beams. The ridge piece, one purlin to each slope and deep wallplate are all moulded and with carved bosses at the intersections with principals and sub-principals, the latter with carved angels with folded wings next to the wall (restored). The north arcade is of two bays with moulded pointed wide arches of two orders with dripmould. Fat octagonal pier and imposts with moulded caps and bases. The lean-to open timber roof to the north aisle has curved braces from stone corbels.
The octagonal limestone font is of the C15th with trefoil sinkings around the bowl and an octagonal shaft with moulded base. It has been moved from the western end of the nave to inside the ringing chamber. It has an octagonal C19th wooden cover carved with sprays of flowers in relief.
The west tower has a tower arch and west doorway of the late C15th, it is of two stages with external string courses below and above the belfry stage which has a two-light pointed louvred opening on each face. The three-light west window is of stopped pointed lights and stained glass of c.1889. West door of old shiplap vertical oak boarding under a pointed arch set in a deep square-headed moulded surround. The label has shield-shaped stops and there is a moulded deep stone dado-plinth to base of tower.
There is an interesting ring of six bells in the west tower the oldest being an Elizabethan casting of 1589, a John Dier of Hitchin recasting of a bell of about 1442 from the Priory at Little Wymondley. The four bells of the priory were sold to Graveley [ after the suppression of 1536 ] and were noted as being of 24cwt ( 1220kg ) in weight but when received in 1557 they were noted as being only of 18cwt ( 915kg ) and it was concluded that the parish had been cheated by Henry VIII's government but there is no record of any compensation being paid to the parish. The recast bell was the third of the four from Little Wymondley, the second also needed recasting and in 1605 it was recast by Robert Oldfield of Hertford, John Dier was no longer available to do the work as he was hanged in 1603 for murder. ( See below ) There followed various other castings until the two trebles were added in 1889 and another old one was recast in 1894. It shows how good the casting by John Dier is that it alone from all the other recastings has survived for over 420 years.
The six bells are hung in a frame made by J.Gray of Hertford in 1889, fitted when the ring was augmented, the ring was retuned and rehung by Gillet & Johnson of Croydon. The 1589 bell is hung in a special headstock as the bell can not now be altered, apart from tuning, in any way. The method of fastening bells to their headstocks has changed over the years and they are now directly attached using long bolts running through the crown of the bell and the headstock. Previously a series of loops were cast into the bell's crown much in the way old cannons were made, hence they are called 'cannons', old bells with these loops are not unusual, and the method of attaching them was by using straps of metal fastened around the wooden headstock. It is difficult to attach a bell with cannons to a metal headstock and up until recently the cannons were removed and mounting holes drilled, but in this case an unusual arrangement of an inverted bowl has been cast along with the headstock with internal claws holding the cannons. See picture in the gallery taken from a leaflet 'The Bells of St Mary, Graveley' available in the church.
The following is a table extracted from Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers showing the weights in kg, the sounding notes of the bells, the founder and the year of casting.
Bell Weight Note Dated Founder
1 225.44 F# 1889 Mears & Stainbank
2 242.67 E 1889 Mears & Stainbank
3 279.41 D c1700 (unidentified)
4 308.44 C# 1894 Mears & Stainbank
5 355.62 B 1589 John Dier
6 457.22 A 1830 Thomas II Mears
The present clock was given to the church in 1890 and the donation is recorded on a brass plaque at the rear of the nave. It records:
The Clock in the Tower of this Church is Dedicated
to the Glory of God in Loving Memory of
Thomas Robert and Rose Maria Townsend Wilson
of Newlands, Hitchin,
by their family and brother.
All Saints Day, 1890.
The clock face is on the south face of the tower above the lower string course and just below the bell chamber opening, it has a black face with the minute and hour marks and Roman numerals in gold-coloured paint. The non-counterbalance hands are of a partial ornamental type also gold-coloured. Noticably, the face is as large as it could be without standing it off the tower wall on spacers. A further plaque in the church records:
In Loving Memory of
George Morris Muschamp
29 August 1908 – 11June 1969
brother of Elizabeth Marshall Taylor
The Clock was Restored by
his devoted wife Sylvia, Family and Friends
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
and He and he delighteth in his way.
Psalm 37, verse 23.
Words variously from British Listed Buildings, Pevsner's Hertfordshire Buildings, and amended and added to with own on-site observations.
Co-ordinates are for the south porch.