St Peter`s Church Wotton Wawen
The parish of Wootton Wawen lies on the southwestern edge of the Forest of Arden, which has stretched across Warwickshire since the Middle Stone Age.
The first wooden church was built at Wootton between 720 and 740 A.D, as a direct result of a charter granted by King Aethalbad of Mercia to Earl Aethelric for 20 hides of land, (around 2,000 acres) on which to build a monastery or minster of St. Mary. The first church may have been burnt and pillaged by Viking invaders, but between about 970 and 1040, Wagen, an Anglo-Danish landowner, established the present church.
Today, the remains of this stone church form the heart of the parish church of St. Peter's, including the lower two- thirds of the tower and the four arches enclosing the Saxon Sanctuary. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, Wagen's lands were transferred to Robert of Stafford, formerly Robert de Tonei, and Wootton's church was given to the Abbey of Conches in Normandy, which had been founded in 1035 by Robert's father.
Conches Abbey was responsible for building a small priory opposite the church. Wootton was one of forty parishes and manors from which the Prior collected tithes and Papal taxes on behalf of the Abbey. However, in 1443, Henry VI closed down the Priory and its assets and church were given to King's College, Cambridge.
As it stands today, St. Peter's represents almost every stage of English architecture, and its mediaeval congregation was the first in a long line to raise funds to safeguard the building. A number of additions included the south aisle, the clerestoryed nave, the buttresses and a succession of re-roofing projects.
St Peter`s Church Wotton Wawen
The parish of Wootton Wawen lies on the southwestern edge of the Forest of Arden, which has stretched across Warwickshire since the Middle Stone Age.
The first wooden church was built at Wootton between 720 and 740 A.D, as a direct result of a charter granted by King Aethalbad of Mercia to Earl Aethelric for 20 hides of land, (around 2,000 acres) on which to build a monastery or minster of St. Mary. The first church may have been burnt and pillaged by Viking invaders, but between about 970 and 1040, Wagen, an Anglo-Danish landowner, established the present church.
Today, the remains of this stone church form the heart of the parish church of St. Peter's, including the lower two- thirds of the tower and the four arches enclosing the Saxon Sanctuary. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, Wagen's lands were transferred to Robert of Stafford, formerly Robert de Tonei, and Wootton's church was given to the Abbey of Conches in Normandy, which had been founded in 1035 by Robert's father.
Conches Abbey was responsible for building a small priory opposite the church. Wootton was one of forty parishes and manors from which the Prior collected tithes and Papal taxes on behalf of the Abbey. However, in 1443, Henry VI closed down the Priory and its assets and church were given to King's College, Cambridge.
As it stands today, St. Peter's represents almost every stage of English architecture, and its mediaeval congregation was the first in a long line to raise funds to safeguard the building. A number of additions included the south aisle, the clerestoryed nave, the buttresses and a succession of re-roofing projects.