St Mary the Virgin Church Plaque

St Mary the Virgin Church Plaque.
The plaque briefly describes the known history of the Church.  The naive was built in the late 7th or early 8th century making it one of the oldest standing buildings in the country.  Despite damage, possibly caused by Danish raids in the 9th and 10th century the church was gradually expanded by the inclusion of the tower and chancel in the 13th century.
The oldest parts of the church were first revealed during restoration work between 1909 and 1913 when foundations of parts of the earliest church were found and Anglo-Saxon windows and distinctive herring- bone style masonery were exposed in the north wall following the removal of lime render.
Recent excavations in the area have found evidence of timber structures which may form part of an Abglo-Saxon monastery.

The Vicarage.
The original vicarage was rebuilt in 1831 by the Rev.O.J.Cresswell and was still used as a rectory.
It then became known as Greystones and became a private residence.  It is interesting to note the size of the building - which obviously reflected the stature of the local vicar in the 13th century.