Stow-on-the-Wold, meaning meeting "place on the hill", is an ancient wool town situated on the highest hill in the Cotswolds, at an elevation of 800 feet above sea level. A settlement is known to have existed here in the Iron Age, and burial mounds from the Stone Age and Bronze Age are also found throughout the local area.
The town’s main source of wealth in earlier times was wool, and sheep from the surrounding hills were brought to the fairs in the Town Square where it is said that as many as 20,000 sheep were sold on a busy day. The Market Cross was erected in the centre of the square to remind the medieval traders to deal honestly and fairly. Although restored and repaired several times, a cross has stood here since the 15th century.
The town also boasts the Royalist Hotel and the Eagle and Child Pub, adjacent to each other on Digbeth Street. Their claim to fame is that a hotel and pub have occupied the site since AD 947, making it the location of the oldest continuously operating hotel and pub in England. (This is said to have been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records.) We had an excellent pub lunch at the Eagle and Child during our stop in Stow-on-the-Wold in August 2004.
The Parish Church of St Edward is another of the magnificent wool churches that dot the Cotswolds. (I previously blogged the Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Cirencester, and the Parish Church of St James, Chipping Campden.)
A church has existed here for at least 1000 years; this is probably the third church on the site. There is no trace of the Saxon church, known to exist by 986, and little trace of the Norman church of the 12th century. The church is dedicated to St Edward, but there is some controversy as to which St Edward. The general opinion is that the patron saint is Edward the Confessor who died in 1066 and was canonized about a century later. However, according to the Domesday Book of 1086, it seems that the church was already under the protection of an Edward who might have been one of two possibilities. First, St Edward the Hermit, a saint so obscure that he is not listed in The Oxford Dictionary of Saints; it is not known for certain that he ever existed, although legend says that he lived near the spring at the bottom of Stow Hill, known as St Edward’s Well. The other, more likely possibility, is Edward the Martyr, King of the West Saxons, who was murdered in 978 and later canonized. Additional evidence bolstering the possibility that the original dedication refers to him is that worship at this site is known to date from Saxon times.
Stow’s prosperity as a wool trade centre enabled re-building of the church from the 13th through the 15th centuries. The tower, completed in 1447, is 88 feet high and houses the heaviest peal of eight bells in Gloucestershire.
(As always, click on photos for larger views.)
The photo at left looks down the nave toward the east. Beyond the Rood Beam are the chancel and the Great East Window. The wooden beam is called a Rood Beam because it supports the Rood (Christ’s cross). An inscription in a War Memorial on the south wall of the nave reads: "The Rood Beam was erected in memory of servicemen who laid down their lives in the Great European War of 1914-1919." It was subsequently inscribed with the names of local servicemen who lost their lives in the second Great War of 1939-1945. On either side of Christ on the Cross appear the figures of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and St John. Below the Rood Beam is the brass Eagle Lecturn.
The Great West Window (at right) has tracery of the 14th century, although the stained glass dates from the late 19th century. The glass shows five Old Testament prophets. The church’s guide book doesn’t identify them, but that’s Moses in the middle carrying the tablets of the Law. I would guess King David is on the right, and I’m not sure who the others are, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. In the small panes at the top are angels, and across the bottom, scenes from the lives of the prophets. The line of text beneath the prophets reads: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead".
All of the stained glass in the church dates from the 19th century, with the exception of the two shown at left, which were made in 1921. These windows in the north clerestory are pre-Raphaelite in style and beautifully coloured. Unfortunately, the guide book doesn’t say who is portrayed therein; otherwise, I’d tell you.
One of the most treasured memorials in the church, found in the floor of the chancel, is this incised slate tombstone that covers the grave of Captain Hastings Keyt. He is depicted in full uniform with a lace-edged sash, helmet, gauntlets, pike, and musket. Captain Keyt was a Royalist officer who died at the Battle of Stow in 1646, the final battle of the English Civil War.
For more on the English Civil War as it affected the Cotswolds, click here.
Click here for more photos of the church and here for the Stow-on-the-Wold town website.
Stow-on-the-Wold is located in the northern part of the Cotswolds. Here’s a map. The Cotswolds is one of our favourite places we visited on our trip. It's a beautiful and peaceful countryside area filled with charming villages. If we ever get the chance to return to Britain, God willing, we’ll plan to spend more time there.
Links to all my blog posts about British churches and Christian sites can be accessed through the box located at the top of the page.
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