St Mary, Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire

Like Guiting Power I had never been here before, and this was one of the highlights of the day.  A small path leads to the church which is beautifully sited with open countryside to the south. The tower is very dominant and appears to be C17, certainly post Perp. The church is Norman as well in origin and the external walls of the chancel show this with corbel tables still in situ. The north wall also has remains of a trefoil headed lancet, a later Dec or C19 window and a blocked doorway (perhaps C15) all under the original Norman corbel table. The church was much rebuilt in Perp times but in the C18 the tracery was removed and the windows made Georgian; the north transept has a Venetian window.

Inside the nave preserves its C15 low-pitched roof, but there is much more of interest.


In a south window three panels of medieval glass, complete figures (St Mary Magdalen, St James the Less and St Mary the Virgin); several other windows from here are now to be seen in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.


A much more recent window at the east end of the south wall is by Thomas Denny, 2009, an artist whose unique style I had admired before in Hereford Cathedral.  

Opposite over the north door are sited the recently restored boards from the former reredos, which used to stand under the tower.


Over the tower arch are some intricate plaster Royal Arms of George II. The font is Perp, and like a cut down version of a pillar and capital.


Excellent Georgian pulpit, not the usual type, with a panel depicting the rays of the sun and inlay. The only two memorials of note are C18 and in the transept, one more hidden than the other by the organ. Also nice to see a welcome table where visitors can make a drink, not the usual squashes but also a kettle and selection of tea or coffee.