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St Mary the Virgin, Cardington, Bedfordshire

Location
(52°7′7″N, 0°24′49″W)
Cardington
TL 087 479
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Bedfordshire
now Bedfordshire
  • Hazel Gardiner

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Feature Sets
Description

The church, which has a chancel with N and S chapels, a nave with N and S aisles and N chapel, S porch and W tower was entirely rebuilt in 1898-1902 with the exception of the early 16thc. chancel and chapels. Re-tooled 12thc. voussoirs are reused in the 12thc. tower arch. Voussoirs from a second 12thc. arch have been reset in the N wall of the nave. The voussoirs are irregular in size.

There are a number of medieval tomb slabs set into the E wall of the S chapel. One of these is 11thc.

History

The Domesday Survey does not mention a church at Caddington, but it records that Hugh of Beauchamp and Judith, the niece of William I, held land there in 1086. The advowson of Caddington church was included in Simon de Beauchamp's foundation charter for Newnham Priory (Bedfordshire) in 1166, and this was confirmed in charters of William de Beauchamp, Henry II and of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. It remained in the possession of the Priory until the Dissolution.

Features

Furnishings

Tombs/Graveslabs

Comments/Opinions

A full description of the graveslab may be found in the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture which dates the sculpture to c.1068. Hare also gives a full description.

The tombslab was discovered when the church tower was demolished prior to the late 19thc. rebuilding.

Bibliography
Domesday Book: Bedfordshire, Ed. J. Morris, Chichester, 1977, 23, 10; 53, 33.
The Victoria County History: A History of the County of Bedford, London, 1912, 3: 233-38.
D.Tweddle, M. Biddle and B. Kjølbye-Biddle, The Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture Volume 4: South East England Oxford, 1995, 207.
M. Hare, 'An Anglo-Saxon Grave Cover at Cardington Church', Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 7, 1972, 83-84.
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England, Bedfordshire and the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough, London, 1968, 63.