St Mary the Virgin
Keysoe, Bedfordshire
St Mary's is a small rural church with a 12th century chancel and south door, a 15th century tower and many additions over the centuries.
The church was built in 1852-53 to a design by Benjamin Ferrey, who favoured the perpendicular revival style, he was a student of renowned ecclesiastic architect Augustus Charles Pugin.
The grouping of church, vicarage and churchyard is significant because it remains largely unchanged since their construction. A parish room was added on the north side in 1882 to the design of Sextus Dyball. He was known more for high Victorian domestic architecture, which may explain its vaguely Tudor style.
The simple 15th century perpendicular style is characterized by Kentish and Devonshire ragstone walling with Bath stone dressings. The shallow pitched roofs are slated, and there are flat roofs to the tower and extension rooms. The most notable exterior detail is on the tower parapet stage, with a chequerboard pattern in terracotta and stone, surmounted by the four corner pinnacles.
Internally the nave is divided from the aisles by arcades with octagonal piers and clerestory windows above. The original red and black Staffordshire tiles survive in the entrance doorway. The north vestry floor is finished in Minton encaustic tiles. The church was badly damaged by fire in 1947, following which the church was divided. The nave up to the chancel arch was retained for worship and the chancel, less its north wall, rebuilt as a separate hall. The clock was made in 1889 by John Moore, of Clerkenwell.
A mosaic by Britain’s only female, Master Mosaicist Gertrude Martin, was installed at the east end of the north aisle as a memorial to her two brothers who died in the First World War. She lived locally, and is also known for work at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, Westminster Cathedral, and the Houses of Parliament.
At the east end of the south aisle is an icon painting of the Virgin and Child surrounded by the evangelists. It was purchased in Addis Ababa and presented by a member of the congregation to the church. A parishioner who came to St John in 1958 recounted that the Vicar Revd Derek Shewring was found to be more welcoming to West Indian immigrants than other Anglican clergy in Brixton. Clergy from the West Indies preached at St John including Bishop Evans of Kingston.
