Our photograph shows the square brick tower and the west door of St. Mary's parish church in the small village of Shinfield near Reading. The church and manor-house lie on the eastern side of the parish, not far from the River Loddon^[1].

The original church was built in 1069 by the Lord of the Manor, a Norman knight who was installed by William the Conqueror. It was rebuilt in 1170 and the present north doorway survives from that time. The tower was built in 1630. During the English Civil War, in 1643, it was badly damaged by cannon balls fired by the Roundheads when soldiers supporting the King were sheltering inside. The bells were destroyed and the terrible damage that was caused, still visible in the brickwork, meant it was rebuilt in 1664. There is a weather vane on top; a cockerel (no longer there) is shown in the postcard below although it largely merges with the trees behind it. The tower has an embattled parapet below which are three decorated string courses. Brick buttresses are on each corner and extend up to just below the roof line of the nave. The belfry windows are in the top stage, with the ringing chamber below. The west doorway, which leads through the tower and is almost dwarfed by what is above it, has a rounded arch. A brick near this door is inscribed "W 1664 P ".^[2]

Writing in "Magna Britannica of Berkshire" in 1806, the Lysons said that part of the parish of Shinfield is "an insulated district of Wiltshire". ... . The dean and chapter of Hereford were then "impropriators of the great tithes, and patron of the vicarage, which is in the deanery of Reading : Mr. Cobham is lessee.
Richard Pigot founded a school at Shinfield, in 1707, and endowed it with 42l [£] per annum, for the education of 20 poor children^[3]."

In 1854 the village was described thus:
"Shinfield is a large village and parish 4 miles south-east of Reading, in the hundred of Charlton. ... The church is an ancient edifice, with low tower, nave, south aisle and chancel; the interior is plain and contains several monuments. Here is a Wesleyan chapel, and a National School, also a Free school, endowed by Mr. William Piggott, a citizen of London, for the education of 29 boys, who are clothed on the 30th of May annually^[4]." Whether Mr. Piggott was called Richard or William is not known.

Postcard of St Mary's on Church Lane, possibly taken in the 1920s. Yews hide the porch on the north side of the church.

In 1856 the "ancient and very dilapidated church" was restored by Messrs. Wheeler and Sons of Reading under the direction of G. G. Scott, Esq. of London. The work had cost between £1400 and £1500 and funds had been collected by subscriptions. The chancel, which was to have three stained glass windows, had been almost entirely rebuilt and a memorial window was also to be erected in memory of a brother of the Rev. George Hulme, who had recently died. The tower was not restored, although it was intended to rebuild it when enough money had been raised^[5].

The chancel's east window had been erected in 1886 in memory of a former vicar (the Rev. Benjamin Bayfield)^[6].

It wasn't unusual for vicars to cover several parishes, and some were absentees. Rev. Jones, who graduated from New College Oxford, held several appointments^[7] but remained associated with Shinfield and Swallowfield until his death in 1823^[8]. The first Vicar recorded at Shinfield in the Churches Database was Ricardus (Richard) Benson in 1543, although another entry shows him having been deprived of office in 1554.

Rev. Henry Nassau Rynd M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin was the vicar of Shinfield between 1867 and 1890^[9]. The Rev. Herbert Llewlyn Rice M.A. of Queen's College Cambridge held the vicarage from 1908; its yearly value was £200, with 26 acres of glebe and residence^[10].

The Berkshire Archaeological Society made a grant of three guineas to the Shinfield Tower fund in 1906^[11].

Royal Arms had been placed over the belfry door in 1660, to mark the restoration of King Charles II, and included the initials C. R. On the day the monarch was restored to the throne, "Shinfield rang its one bell"^[12]. Six bells were installed between 1664 and 1803, replacing the ones destroyed in the Civil War^[2]. At some point the Royal Arms, painted on oak, had been taken down as in 1913 they were found perfectly preserved behind an oak beam by Rev. Rice. They were cleaned and [re]placed above the belfry door^[6]. Another rediscovery was the beautiful Jacobean carved oak communion table below the east window that the then new vicar had found in 1908 "lying dusty and neglected in a corner of the church"; it was being used by someone who was cleaning the church lamps, but was renovated and restored^[2]. It was said to be one of the finest in the county at the time.

Although a sub-committee was set up to consider installing electric lighting in the church in 1939, nothing was done until after the Second World War. The church Council met in July 1946 and it was decided the Finance Committee should obtain estimates.

When an appeal was launch to rehabilitate the tower in 1955, the bells had not been fully rung for 20 years.

We visited Shinfield on one of those late Spring days that is a mixture of sunshine and showers so the photo on the left is rather darker than we'd hoped. It shows the tower from another angle and includes the lovely church porch. Several generations of the Exell family, descending from the children of Thomas Exell, were baptised here in the eighteenth century[13]. The Exells moved to nearby Reading at the beginning of the 19th century. The Shinfield parish registers also record members of the Hawksworth family living in the village, some of whom are also in Andy's family tree. There is more information elsewhere on this website: EXALL & EXELL Surnames Our Genealogy Research Queries War Graves (Frank Exell)

References and notes on the text:

^[1] British History Online: A History of the County of Berkshire, Shinfield

^[2] "Reading Observer,", 30 June 1922. The Story of Local Villages, No. 2. By G. A. Morris. The church was believed to date from 1120 at this time. The six bells were given between 1664 and 1803. On the second it reads "Honour the King ", on the third "Hope is God " and on the fifth "Rejoice in God". These three date from 1664. Another bell, dated 1722, says "Henry Bagley made Mee." The tenor bell was made in 1803 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel and weighs 13 cwt. (this last from "Reading Evening Post", 8 Nov 1968)

^[3] Lysons Daniel and Samuel, (1806) "Magna Britannica of Berkshire", reprinted 1978, EP Publishing Ltd., East Ardsley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire ISBN 0 71588 1313, p.93

^[4] "Post Office Directory of Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire ... " (1854), Kelly and Co., 19 and 20 Old Boswell Court, Temple Bar, London, p361. The name of the gentleman who endowed the school differs from the Lysons version.

^[5] "Berkshire Chronicle", 29 March 1856. Re-opening of Shinfield Church by the Bishop of Oxford.

^[6] "Hendon & Finchley Times", 12 September 1913.

^[7] The Churches Database provides his dates at Shinfield as 7 Dec 1771 - 15 Jul 1823, when he died.
- He was appointed to Shinningfield als [sic] Shinfield with Chapel of Swallow.
- He was also rector of St. Mary Somerset, and St. Mary Mounthaw from 30 Jul 1787 to his death.
- Archdeacon of Hereford from 28 Dec 1787 to death.
- Curate at Shellingford 16 Jul 1787 to 16 Jul 1789.
- He resigned as Vicar 1 Jan 1823.

^[8] "The News (London)", 2 February 1823. He passed away at his house in Upper Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London

^[9] He was referred to in Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1887. Rev. Nassau Rynd had suceeded Rev. B. Bayfield in 1867 ("Reading Mercury", 7 June 1890). He was buried in the churchyard.

^[10] Kelly's Directory of Reading, 1914.

^[11] "Reading Observer", 2 June 1906. Berks Archaeological Society. They also made a grant of two guineas to the restoration of the tower at Blewbury.

^[12] "Wokingham Times,", 8 April 1938. Extracts from a recent issue of the parish magazine.

^[13] The parish registers are held by the Berkshire Record Office and have been transcribed by the LDS. Before 1812, when registers changed, the first register contains baptisms 1649 - 1757, burials 1653 - 1757 and marriages 1653 to 1754. In the second register are baptisms 1757 - 1812 and burials 1757 - 1812. The marriages are slightly different and are grouped as follows: marriages 1754 - 1777, marriages 1777 to 1796 and marriages 1797 - 1812.