Church of St Mary

St Mary’s Church stands in the centre of Stafford, a Grade I listed building whose oldest parts date from the early 13th century. The nave and aisles belong to that period, while the transepts were added in the 14th century and the clerestories and crossing tower in the 15th. Beneath the churchyard lie the remains of an earlier late Anglo-Saxon church dedicated to St Bertelin, uncovered during excavations in 1954. In the 13th century the church became a Royal Peculiar, free from the bishop’s control, which led to violent clashes in 1258 when armed men forced entry under Bishop Roger de Meyland. It remained a collegiate foundation until the dissolution of colleges in 1548. The church holds monuments to notable figures from the 16th to the 18th centuries. A chest tomb commemorates Sir Edward Aston, who died in 1568, while a wall tablet by John Francis Moore marks Thomas and Barbara Clifford, who died in 1787 and 1786. Another tablet remembers Humphrey Hodgetts, who died in 1730, and Izaak Walton, the angler and author, who died in 1683. Among those buried here are Edward Stafford, the third Baron Stafford, and Walter Aston, the second Lord Aston of Forfar. Inside, the church contains two organs. The larger four-manual instrument by Harrison and Harrison dates from 1909 and holds a Grade I Historic Organ Certificate. The smaller organ was installed in 1790 by John Geib, rebuilt in 1844 by John Banfield and again in 1974 by Hill, Norman & Beard. The building’s interior also preserves the work of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who carried out a major restoration between 1841 and 1844.