The Church of the Holy Cross.
Binstead, Hampshire.
General Background.
The Church of the Holy Cross in situated in the rural village of Binsted, NE Hampshire. Binsted (Benestede) is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).
The original church was built in 1140 and consisted of the present day Nave and what is now part of the Chancery.
Unlike many of the neighbouring churches of similar age, it is not called St Mary’s and therefore is unlikely to have been under the benefice of the Cistercian order of Woburn Abbey.
The building.
The local population expanded rapidly in the two centuries following the time of the original build in 1140 and the church grew to accommodate it’s growing congregation. There were extensive building works 1180–1190, 1205, 1330, 1400, 1886. These works added a bell tower, what is now the High Altar, a North & South Aisle, the Maiden (Lady) Chapel, North Transept, Sacristy and Porch. Several restoration projects took place in the twentieth century, mainly to the bell tower.
The grounds.
The grounds of the church are extensive and very well maintained. There are many well established trees including at least eight yew trees.
The cemetery is still in use.
Many of the older (1700s & 1800s) gravestones have been removed and are now lined up along the boundary wall with the village school.
The most famous inhabitant of the graveyard is ‘Monty’, Field Marshal, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (17/11/1887–24/3/1976). Monty is said to be one of the finest soldiers ever produced by the British army, who was instrumental in winning WWII for the Allies. He had also fought in WWI.
He lived in the neighbouring village of Isington and he was a regular worshipper at the church.
After his funeral service conducted at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, he was buried in the Binsted churchyard 1st April 1976.
His banner is hanging inside the church in the nave.
Inside the Church
The overly large doorway was part of the 1330s building works to increase the size of the church to accommodate the growing parish population.
The current font, made from marble, dates from 1896. It replaced the original 1160 octangle font which had become unserviceable. Octangle Norman fonts are uncommon, square ones are more usual. Unfortunately there are no drawings of the original font, nor is there any information about what happened to it.
The font is to be found in the South Aisle, adjacent to the Nave.
There is no information on the font cover. The cover is wooden and looks very much older than the 120 year old font. The wood looks identical to that used in the main door.The iron embellishments could well be medieval, if not Norman. In the centre of the cover, under the iron circular handle, is a Knights Templar cross which could place it between 1139 and 1312.
The church contains the tomb of a crusader Richard de Westcote, who it is believed fought with King Edward I in the 8th Crusade (1270). His effigy shows him wearing a surcoat of chainmail. His head, which is clad in a helmet, rests on a cushion supported by two angels. The Norman French inscription reads “Richard de Westcote gist ici deu da sa alme eit merci amen”. Richard de Westcote lies dead here. May God have mercy on his soul . Amen
There is no further information on the tomb or its occupant
The crusader’s tomb has not been well treated. During the 1800s the chapel was used as a village school and the area that the houses the tomb was used as a coal store. Now it is impossible to view as it is kept behind a locked door in what is now the choir vestry.
As seeing the tomb was one of the main reasons I visited the church it’ll come as no surprise that I was both disappointed and frustrated.
I was unable to find any photographs of the tomb. The one above comes from a booklet about the church that was used as a fundraiser in 1992.
On the opposite side of the church from the crusader tomb, in the Maiden chapel, is another tomb in an arched recess. It is believed to be 14th century. It is covered by a stone slab engraved with a cross. Unlike the crusader tomb, no name is decipherable. Given that the tomb is recessed and raised and therefore not walked over (or used as a coal store), it is hard to imagine how on earth the inscription is no longer visible let alone decipherable. Perhaps it has been deliberately removed.
Given the colour of the paint, it is likely to be decoration from the 1300s.
As well as traces of painted decoration in the centre of the pillar (and photograph) there is an interesting engraving in the pillar (lower right hand side) that looks like the lower and left hand side of a decorative cross.
