CHURCHES.
The parish church at King's Stanley
had evidently been built by the end of the 12th
century, (fn. 83) although record of it has not been found
before 1270. (fn. 84) The living was a rectory in 1291 (fn. 85) and
has remained one.
Until the 16th century the advowson belonged to
the lords of the manor, (fn. 86) one of whom presumably
founded the church. Lord Lumley presented in
1560, and John Knoteford, apparently his stepfather, in 1568 and 1573. (fn. 87) In 1584 the Crown was
said to be patron, (fn. 88) and the Earl of Arundel in 1603. (fn. 89)
John Jones of Gloucester presented in 1614 and in
1630 William Beeley, the previous incumbent. The
Crown was again said to be patron in 1637, and in
1667 John Trebick was patron for one turn. (fn. 90) In
1707 Richard Lumley, Earl of Scarborough, who
had inherited some of Lord Lumley's former
estates, presented, (fn. 91) and in 1732 and 1735 Thomas
Small of Nailsworth. By 1779 the advowson had
passed to Jesus College, Cambridge, (fn. 92) which held
it in 1967.
The rector had c. 65 a. of glebe in 1618, (fn. 93) but c.
85 a. in 1705. In 1705 he received cash rents for
tithes of grain and hay and cash payments for milk,
apples and pears, hens, sheep's wool, and gardens;
lambs, calves, arid pigs were tithable in kind. (fn. 94)
Tithes were paid for the wheels at Stanley Mill in
the mid 18th century. (fn. 95) In 1807 the tithes were
compounded at a rent of 2s. 9d. in the £ for pasture
and 3s. in the £ for arable according to the value of
the land. (fn. 96) In 1839 they were commuted for a cornrent of £440. (fn. 97) The. rectory was worth £5 13s. 4d.
in 1291, (fn. 98) and £18 15s. 1½d. in 1535. (fn. 99) It was claimed
that the tithes alone were worth c. £100 in 1597, (fn. 1)
and the whole rectory was valued at £112 in 1650. (fn. 2)
It was worth £180 in 1756, (fn. 3) and £518 in 1856. (fn. 4)
The stone rectory house retains features of a
medieval house, although possibly reset; they include
two arched doorways and a cusped 14th-century
light in the southern part of the main block, which
was apparently once a cross-wing. There are also
indications of a lower roof-level over the northern
part of the main block. The house had 6 hearths in
1672, (fn. 5) and in 1705 it was a house of 4 bays with a
kitchen and coach-house in a detached building of 3
bays, (fn. 6) a barn and stable in a range of 9 bays, and
other buildings. (fn. 7) In 1720 the rector, Thomas
Morgan, was licensed to pull down some of the
outbuildings and rebuild the house as a longer and
higher building, (fn. 8) and the main block with three
gables on front and back and stone-mullioned
windows with dripmoulds apparently survives from
that rebuilding; in 1807 the house was described as
of 6 bays. (fn. 9) A large cross-wing in the same style was
added on the north by John Gibson, rector 1857-
1886. (fn. 10) A small cross-gabled dovecot north of the
house is presumably the one mentioned from 1597, (fn. 11)
and a building to the south with a projecting stone
oven may have been the detached kitchen.
The Rector of King's Stanley had licence to study
for two years in 1308, (fn. 12) and John Oldland was
granted leave to be absent for a year in the service
of Catherine Berkeley of Wotton-under-Edge in
1363. (fn. 13) Robert Aumfray, rector in 1405, was indicted for the theft of a cow and forfeited his goods to
the Crown; they were restored to him in 1410. (fn. 14)
The rector in 1532 was a doctor of theology; (fn. 15) he
was apparently non-resident in 1540 when the
farmer of the rectory was paying a curate. (fn. 16) In 1548
the lack of a curate was presented by the churchwardens who apparently believed the Crown to hold
the rectory. (fn. 17) The rector was not resident in 1551
when the curate serving the parish was found
unsatisfactory in doctrine. (fn. 18) Henry Prescott, presented in 1560, was dispensed for plurality in 1562
and was residing elsewhere the next year. (fn. 19) William
Bridgeman, presented in 1573, (fn. 20) could not speak
Latin, and was said to be a simple divine in 1576, (fn. 21)
and neither a graduate nor a preacher in 1584; (fn. 22) in
1593, however, he was judged to be a sufficient
scholar. (fn. 23) In 1595 he was cited for simony and when
he failed to appear the rectory was sequestrated. (fn. 24)
In 1597 Bridgeman was attempting to recover the
rectory from two lawyers to whom he had demised
it so that they could meet his legal costs. (fn. 25) Miles
Smith was instituted on Bridgeman's death in 1614
but was apparently dispossessed for simony soon
afterwards, being replaced by William Beeley in
1615. By 1627 Beeley was also Archdeacon of
Carmarthen and Rector of Stoke Golding (Leics.).
He was succeeded in 1630 by James Chadwick from
whom the rectory was sequestrated before 1646
when a portion of the profits was assigned to the
support of his wife and children. (fn. 26) William Hodges
was rector by 1648 when he signed the Gloucestershire Ministers' Testimony; (fn. 27) he was described as a
constant preacher in 1650. (fn. 28) In 1659 he was said,
like his colleague of Stonehouse, to be a supporter
of Massey's attempted rising at Gloucester. (fn. 29)
Hodges and Chadwick were evidently disputing the
living in 1662. Charles Stock, instituted in 1667,
was also Rector of Cranham in 1669. Kynard Baghott,
rector 1735-79, was also Vicar of Prestbury from
1756. William Forge, rector 1820-57, was absent on
the grounds of his wife's illness until c. 1829, and
because of his own ill-health for several years after
1839. (fn. 30)
The old parish church of ST. GEORGE
(fn. 31)
comprises nave, chancel, south aisle, west tower, and
south porch. The lower stage of the tower, which has
round-headed lights on the north and south, the
tower arch, the north wall of the nave with a badly
weathered corbel-table and a blocked round-headed
light, and the north wall of the chancel with a similar
corbel-table, survive from the 12th-century church.
The chancel wall, however, is actually a careful
19th century rebuilding using the old stone; (fn. 32) it
formerly had a cusped light apparently of the 13th
century. (fn. 33) The upper stage of the tower was added
in the 14th century and contains two windows of that
period, and another window was made in the west
wall of the lower stage; battlements and gargoyles
were added then or later. A 14th-century window
survives in the north wall of the nave; two others in
similar style there are 19th-century additions or
restorations. Also in the north wall is a series of
medieval corbel-heads which formerly supported
the nave roof. In the 15th century a south aisle with
battlements was made extending the full length of
nave and chancel, and the porch was presumably
added in the same period. In the late 18th century
the aisle, under a roof that continued the pitch of
those of the nave and chancel, was divided by
buttresses east of the porch into four bays; three
contained windows and the easternmost a squareheaded doorway, and there was a window at the east
end. (fn. 34) The original Norman chancel arch was perhaps destroyed when the aisle was built; in 1851
there was no division between nave and chancel, (fn. 35)
and 'the old chancel arch abutment' was mentioned
in 1874. (fn. 36) The arcade between the aisle and the rest
of the church was apparently destroyed when
galleries were built in the aisle; (fn. 37) a gallery for the
singers had been made at the west end of the aisle
by 1726 when another was made opposite in the
nave; another was made in the aisle in 1766. (fn. 38) In the
late 18th century the chancel had a square-headed
east window of two lights. (fn. 39)
Some repairs were done to the church in 1572, (fn. 40)
but in 1576 the chancel was unpaved and some of its
windows lacked glass and the nave was out of
repair. (fn. 41) A buttress against the south aisle on the
east of the porch is dated 1607. In 1823, when the
church was said to have been enlarged, (fn. 42) two new
windows were added in the south aisle which was
remodelled as 6 bays, and a new arched doorway was
made at its eastern end, and the east windows of the
aisle and chancel were replaced by a single central
window, (fn. 43) described in 1851 as 'a detestable modern
one'. (fn. 44) Between 1874 and 1876 extensive restoration
was carried out under G. F. Bodley and J. G.
Garner. The chancel was extended c. 8 ft. eastwards
by taking down its north wall and rebuilding it with
the old stone further to the east and adding a vestry
in the intervening space, and making new south and
east walls. The east end was given a triple-lancet
window, and a new chancel arch was built. The work
on the chancel was paid for by the rector and
parishioners, the rest, including a new nave arcade
and a new Tudor-style doorway in the eastern bay
of the south aisle, by Samuel Marling and his
family. (fn. 45)
The church once had a 12th-century font comprising a large bowl with central pedestal and angle
shafts; it was replaced by a new one of similar
design, (fn. 46) probably at the restoration in the 1870s.
There were said to be four old stained glass windows
in 1870, (fn. 47) and the architects were directed to preserve fragments in the south aisle at the restoration. (fn. 48)
A wooden chest carved with dragon heads has the
initials T.C., perhaps for one of the Clutterbuck
family. The church had an organ in 1829; (fn. 49) it was
replaced in 1876 by a Gothic organ built by a local
carpenter, Thomas Liddiatt. (fn. 50) Under the tower are
preserved metal plates and wall-monuments to
members of the Clutterbuck and Paul families, and,
set under the west window, some medieval painted
tiles. The plate includes two chalices with patencovers dated 1673 and given in that year by Lady
Margaret Hungerford. (fn. 51) The one bell was cast by
Abraham Rudhall in 1694. (fn. 52) The registers begin in
1573. (fn. 53) In 1309 an altar to St. Catherine was
consecrated in the church. (fn. 54) A burgage called
Lampclose given to maintain a lamp was granted
away by the Crown in 1549. (fn. 55)
A new church, dedicated to ALL SAINTS was
built at Selsley between 1859 and 1862; it was
promoted and largely financed by Samuel Marling
of Stanley Park. (fn. 56) In 1863 it was assigned the eastern
half of King's Stanley as its parish. (fn. 57) The patronage
was vested in the Marling family who provided a
parsonage house. (fn. 58) The church, built to the design
of G. F. Bodley, (fn. 59) combines Gothic styles of the
13th and 14th centuries; it has nave, north aisle,
apsidal chancel, and at the west end a prominent
saddle-back tower which was apparently modelled
on that of the church of Marling in the South Tyrol. (fn. 60)
The stained glass was provided by William Morris's
firm and individual windows were designed by
Morris, Burne-Jones, Rosetti, and Ford Madox
Brown. (fn. 61) There is a uniform series of wall tablets to
members of the Marling family in the nave. Two
bells were provided in 1887. (fn. 62)