Pear Tree Church

The ancient parish of St Mary Extra, was separated from Southampton by 'the great river Itchen, where the passage is very broad and often dangerous.' Licence to build a chapel was granted on 23 February 1617, and the chapel was consecrated 17 September 1620 by the Bishop of Winchester, Lancelot Andrewes. The form of service used has formed the basis of all consecration services used in the Church of England since.

A small church, now called Peartree Parish Church, was built as Jesus Chapel for £500 by Captain Richard Smith. The original church building was fairly small and probably did not take long to build. Inside the church today, over the small arch near the font is a small shield which was once on the outside of the building and is incised with the date 1618.

The chapel as as first built was '20½ ft broad by 50½ ft long, fitted with a wooden chancel screen, a Holy Table, a font, a pulpit, seats on the floor and gallery, and a bell’. It has been enlarged and repaired again and again, so only the west end of the original building remains. In 1821 it was repaired, the south transept, west porch and gallery being built; in 1847 a north aisle and vestry were added; in 1866 additions were made on the east side of the south transept, and in 1882 a new chancel with a south aisle was built. Of its old fittings only the altar table remains, the old pulpit is used up as wainscoting in the vestry. The church has a stunning stained glass window above the altar and a 1900 Gray & Davidson organ rebuilt in 1998. The old bell, which is said to have come from Netley Abbey but is of much later date, is not hung, and the bell cote contains its successor from 1870.

The church stands in a crowded little churchyard facing on to an open green, where the pear tree grew from which the church and area is named. One is a poignant memorial to Richard Parker a local cabin boy who was cannabalised at sea which created a landmark legal case "R v Dudley and Stephens" in 1884 that established the principle that "necessity is not a defense to a charge of murder". There are also important memorials to the local Rosoman family, Richard Robert Rosoman drowned in the "Stella" disaster off the Casquet Rocks in 1899. The John Butler Harrison memorial is important as his wife Elizabeth Austen was a second cousin to the author Jane Austen who frequently visited them in Southampton and is where she celebrated her 18th birthday.

The church is still serving the local community over 400 years later. Further history of the church can be found on our website.