The History of Tingewick Church

The oldest Part Of the Church is the North wall of the Nave and the North Aisle which date from 1150 - 1200. Notice the rounded arches of the North Arcade of the Nave with their distinctive dog-toothed decoration. Of the two windows in the North Wall only one is a genuine window with jambs of 12th century moulded stones. The western window is formed in the head of a blocked Norman doorway. The coloured glass in these windows was installed during the mid 19th century.

The Chancel and West Tower are 15th century and are typical of their period. The outer doorway into the Tower is of good perpendicular style. In the East wall of the Chancel the window has three Cinquefold lights with vertical tracery in a four centred head. The two windows in each side wall are square headed. The Chancel Arch used to be closed by a wainscot screen having above it on the Nave side the Royal Arm of William and Mary. These were still in place In 1847 when Lipscombe wrote his 'History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham'. A blocked doorway to the rood screen can be seen adjacent to the Altar in the side Chapel.

During the 19th century the Church was much restored. In 1830 the South Wall of the Nave was rebuilt and in 1851 the same wall was taken down and the present South Aisle added, being built of Cosgrove stone. Near the top of the outer wall of the South Aisle is a stone bearing the legend HPEMEDG 1634, which was possibly part of the South Wall. This stone records some major repair to the fabric of the Church in that year. Many Churches in the locality have similar 'repair stones' - because Churches were put into good order before the famous inspection of Churches by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1637. According to a note by former Rector, John Risley. in an 18th century register the letters stand for- Hanc Poeui Ecclesiam Meam Dei Gloria or 'This stone placed here to the glory of God'.

(Conjecture:- Does the Nave roof date from this period ? It is certainly not in the same style as the Chancel and Tower. Was there an earlier roof with possibly the same external profile but which from inside looked much as the roof in the chancel ? In many Churches it is the Nave that is the oldest part with Chancels and Aisles being added later.)

Affixed to the cast wall of the chancel is a curious monumental brass. It depicts the kneeling figure of the Revd. Erasmus Williams, Rector of Tingewick, who died in 1608 aged 56. The brass is a masterpiece of the engravers art. Erasmus Williams is kneeling between two pillars. The pillar towards which Erasmus is turned, is the temple pillar and represents his holy calling. The other pillar is festooned with astronomical, geometrical and musical instruments, painting equipment and books of classical scholarship. These represent the learned pursuits which Erasrnus left behind him when he entered the church. Underneath the engraved figure is an interesting Emblem. (An emblem being a type of moral or religious verse of the Middle Ages). Richard Haydocke and Erasmus Williarm were both students at New College, Oxford. Erasmus became a parson and Richard became a Doctor in Salisbury. But not only was Richard a doctor he was also a clever engraver and composer of emblems. Besides this engraving in Tingewick Church there are two of his engravings at Queens College, Oxford. and one at New College. Richard Haydocke was quite a character. It was said that he saw visions in the night and that he would select a text in his sleep, and discourse on it despite pinchings. Generally these sleep preachings were discourses denouncing the Pope and high church practices. King James 1 beard about the night preaching doctor and sent for him to come to court to exhibit his powers. Haydocke confessed to the King that it had all been a hoax. After a public recantation Haydocke was pardoned by the King, who offered him preferment in the church. Haydocke did not take the cloth but remained a respectable Salisbury doctor until retiring to London and dying just before the Grand Rebellion. Note Haydocke's name engraved on the brass after the lines with the words 'scholar and friend' which refer of course to himself.

The Church Clock

The Church has a very ancient turret clock in the Church tower, but it has no face and therefore the time can only he heard and not seen by the people of Tingewick.

A former Rector, the late Revd. J.E. Simpson was much interested in the clock and it was arranged for an authority on Church Clocks, Dr. C.F.C. Benson of Oxford to visit the village and make an examination of the mechanism. Dr. Benson reported as follows-

"The Clock is of an uncommon type. characterised by end to end trains of wheels and a centre count wheel. I know of only a few other English examples which were to be seen in the Midlands and the South Eastern counties.

It Is an ancient type of mechanism first used at the end of the 14th century but now and again used until the end of the 18th century. It derives from early turret clocks prevalent In the low countries. Belgium and parts of Northern France.

The frame of the ( lock has features of the late 17th century and it has an anchor escapement with a pendulum beating a fraction more than one second. This clock is certainly later than 1675 but may, however he a conversion from an older type."

If we are to accept Dr. Benson's report our present village clock is not older than 1675, yet it is very probable that this clock is a conversion of an older clock. Firstly because apart from the frame the mechanism could be a lot older than 1675. Secondly because we know that Tingewick Church did have a clock in 1637. In that year the then Bishop of Lincoln had a survey made and it is quoted in A W Cocks "Church Bells of Buckinghamshire." The third reason is that the church had a rector who was interested in astronomy and such related subjects in the person of the famous Erasmus Williams (see Haydocke Brass) and he died in 1608.

So all that we can say is that it is a very old clock and it could have been installed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 and then adapted to a new frame 75 - 100 years later. The heavy weights of the clock have to be wound up every day.

The Keyes Memorial tablet

In the chancel is a memorial tablet to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger John Brownlow Keyes Bt. 1st Baron Keyes of Zeebrugge and Dover. G.C.B., K.C.V.0, C.M.G., D.S.O., D.C.L., L.L.D., M. P., G.C. Order of Leopold, G.O. Legion of honour, Croix Guerre, D.S.M., who died 26th December, 1945, as a result of injuries sustained on active service. And also on the same tablet is a memorial to his eldest son Geoffrey Tasker Keyes, V.C., M.C., Croix de Guerre, who died 18th November, 1941. while trading a daring raid on Rommel's H.Q. at Sidi Rafa in Libya.

Lord Keyes moved to Tingewick in 1931. He is best remembered for a truly illustrious service of nearly 60 years in the Royal Navy. A similar tablet to the one in Tingewick is in St. Paul's Cathedral and at its unveiling the late Sir Winston Churchill said "....... And now we are gathered here today to unveil the tablet which preserves and proclaims the admiration of our war-worn generation for these two heroic Englishmen - the one a great naval commander, the other a young colonel awarded after his death the Victoria Cross. The tablet also expresses the enduring affection with which their memory is cherished by their many friends, and most of all by those who knew them best.

For more than thirty years I was one of the Admiral's closest friends. When I was at the Admiralty in 1911 he was already an officer of high distinction, and in charge of our submarine flotillas: at the time when this new and terrible weapon began to break upon the naval world and cast its menace upon the life and safety of Britain.

But we have to go back to the beginning of the century for the first occasion when the light of martial distinction fell upon the young lieutenant who, acting on his own initiative stormed with thirty men the Chinese fort on the Lei Ho river, for which 9,000 allied troops had been considered insufficient to attack, and thus opened the channel to the relief of the European garrisons besieged in Tientsien. From then down to the last period of his life Admiral Keyes sought glory in the face of danger and his intense impulse for action was always armed with the highest degree of naval skill and technical efficiency ......." (such was Churchill's tribute).

The wooden cross to the left of the memorial is the one that the Germans erected in a tiny cemetery on a hill top about a mile from Sidi Rafa. It is said that Rommel himself ordered his chaplain to conduct the funeral of Col. Keyes and the four German soldiers who died in the attack on his H.Q. The story of Geoffrey's life and death is movingly told in the book, "Groffrey Keyes V.C. of the Rommel Raid" by Elizabeth Keyes.

Tried for Murder

Also in the chancel are tablets commemorating the Risley family. One of the family, the Revd. John Risley was Rector of Tingewick for almost sixty years from 1759 until 1818 A..D. When he had been in Tingewick seven years, there happened an incident which resulted in him being tried for murder. The Reverend gentleman was in Stony Stratford one day when a certain Captain rode in and reported that he had been waylaid by a highwayman. Immediately a posse was formed to go out after the robber and bring him to justice. In the ensuing chase the clergyman, who had joined the posse shot the highwayman dead. John Risley, Rector of Tingewick, was tried for murder but was honourable acquitted and commended for having done his duty.

The Church Bells

Tie tower has a ring of five bells together with a light sanctus bell. The oldest bell dates from the early fourteen hundreds and bears the initials of the Bell Founder John Walgrave. It is known from a will of 1408 that John Walgrave was a foreman in the works of William Dawe founder of the great Aldgate bell foundry in London.

Four of the remaining five bells are made by either Bartholomew Attom or his son Robert Attom who were patriotic bell makers in Buckingham in Tudor and Stuart times. The second oldest Tingewick bell bears the inscription, "Bartholomew Attom. Bell Found. 1591." They were patriotic in the sense that bells of theirs at Mixbury and Hanslope bear the legends, 'God save King james', and 'God save King Charles'.

The youngest bell is dated 1721 and bears the names of the Church Wardens John Yeates and William Stokes. The initials of John Yeates and Henry Markham may also he seen on an old churchwardens chest of the period.

In the churchyard

In the churchyard at the South West Corner of the church is a headstone of one John Russe and his wife which is described in the book 'English Churchyard Memorials' as among the widest in England.

Also to the right of the path as one enters the churchyard are three stones, one of which commemorates a seventeen year old boy Richard Crichton who was murdered in Tingewick Wood.

The large obelisk memorial in the churchyard commemorates a former Rector, the Revd. Francis Edmonds who is remembered for his charitable acts and for his work as an Educationalist. The Edmonds Charity provided for the education and clothing of six poor boys and six poor girls in the village. He was also Rector of Fingest in Buckinghamshire and there he is commemorated by the modern Francis Edmonds Secondary School.

Extract from 'Bygone Tingewick', published by the Tingewick Historical Society in 1977.