St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church stands on a ridge above the River Wye in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. Parts of the building date from the late 11th century, built at the same time as the nearby Norman castle. The church began as a Benedictine priory founded by William FitzOsbern and his son Roger de Breteuil around 1072. It became an alien priory with about twelve monks, later linked to Llantarnam Abbey and Bermondsey Abbey. After the Dissolution in 1536 most priory buildings were demolished, leaving only the nave as the parish church. The foundations of the old choir, cloister and chapter house lie beneath a car park beside the present church. The church is worth visiting for its layered history and surviving features. The ornate west doorway, with zigzag and lozenge carvings, remains from the early 12th century. The central tower collapsed in 1701 and was rebuilt in rustic classical style by 1706 under Vicar Thomas Chest. In 1841 Bishop Edward Copleston oversaw rebuilding of the east end. The nave still shows Norman work, though aisles were removed in the 19th century. The organ has pipework from the early 17th century, moved from Gloucester Cathedral via Bristol. Inside, visitors find two fonts, one Norman and one from the 15th century. Notable tombs include that of Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester, and the Jacobean memorial of Margaret Cleyton with her two husbands and twelve children. The tomb of Henry Marten, signatory to King Charles I’s death warrant, carries an acrostic epitaph. Eight of the ten bells were cast locally in 1735 by William Evans, and the clock mechanism was also made in the 18th century. The church’s disjointed architecture reflects centuries of change and adaptation.