page_title: St Mary the Virgin's Church, Aylesbury
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: St Mary the Virgin's Church, Aylesbury / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Plan of St Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury (1869)
context_page_description: The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury, is an Anglican church of the Diocese of Oxford, in the centre of the town of Aylesbury. There is evidence of a church from Saxon times, but the present building was built sometime between 1200 and 1250, with various additions and alterations in the 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th century.
  The church is one of the most recognisable sights of Aylesbury; its ornate clock tower dominates the skyline. The church is currently a Grade I listed building as it is a building of exceptional interest.
context_section_description: In the times of the Napoleonic Wars, the stock of gunpowder required for the local regiments was stored in the innermost parts of the church.
  In 1821 the churchwardens expended £250 in erecting a stable, coach house, and washhouse; this outlay was not satisfactory to the Charity Commissioners. These properties were situated somewhere in the vicinity of Temple Square.
  Extensive renovations works were carried out after a report from the 1830s. Prior to the restoration of the Church the mural tablets were distributed in all parts of the building, but were mostly erected in the chancel and north transept.
  The Church had been under the process of what is called 'churchwardening' for many years, and a considerable debt was incurred for worse than useless patching. The real work of restoration commenced as far back as the year 1842, during the church wardenship of Mr. Fowler and Mr. Field. They first tried their hands on the interior of the south transept. For their services they received the thanks of a vestry, accompanied by a request that they would continue their labours. It was, however, found that the expenses would be very great, and it was hopeless to expect to raise anything like the sum required, by church-rates or appeals to the parishioners only.
  A surveyor from London had been consulted upon the state of the Church many years before 1848, and his report was a very concise one. He gave it as his opinion that the Church might probably stand until he got to Watford, but that it would fall before he reached home. On 24 September 1848, during the Sunday morning service, the chimes being silenced as usual, the fastenings by which they were held gave way, and caused a great clatter in the tower. Many thought the prophecy made by the surveyor had come to pass and that the Church was actually falling. There was a panic, and a great rush made by many of the congregation to escape from the supposed falling ruins; some scrambled over the tops of the pews, some tumbled over each other in attempting to make their way out, and for a time there was utter confusion. When the more timid had reached the churchyard, and their fears had become somewhat allayed by finding that there was nothing whatever the matter, they returned to their seats, and the service was resumed and continued.
  An 1848 survey by Sir Gilbert Scott revealed considerable problems with the foundations, and thus the walls and the roof.
  At a vestry held in 1849, this report was taken into consideration. Mr. Tindal received a mandate from the Archdeacon to do the necessary repairs to the fabric of the building. The object of the vestry, therefore, was to sanction the borrowing of £3,000 for the purposes of repairs. This vestry was an exceedingly stormy one, the borrowing of the money being vehemently opposed by the leading Nonconformists. The vestry decided in favor of the plan, and a poll of the parish was demanded. The poll remained open two days, and ended in a majority of 281 in favor of the motion for obtaining the money by borrowing. 
  At the Easter vestry which followed soon after, Mr. Z. D. Hunt was chosen parish churchwarden, when he requested that he might be allowed to state in what spirit he took office. It appeared to him that the grant of £3,000 should be laid out with the most scrupulous care, and only for those repairs which were necessary in furnishing the poor with religious instruction. Not one shilling of this money should be laid out in decorations or ornamental work of any kind. He was determined to carry out this principle. He believed this view of the case was not a peculiar one, as it was announced by the members of the scheme at the vestry and he had no doubt that the decorations needed in the Church would be done by subscription raised in another way. Pews, galleries, partitions, and other impediments were swept away and sold, and contracts entered into, not only for necessary repairs, but also for the restoration of the interior. The Church was closed, and public worship held in the County Hall.
  An ecclesiastical census was carried out throu
caption: Plan of St Mary's Church, Aylesbury (1800s)
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