NORTH MARSTON : Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary : Pilgrimage Guide

OXFORD DIOCESE PILGRIM PROJECT

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, North Marston

Our journey starts where many pilgrimages ended, at the Schorne Well which lies a couple of hundred yards to the south of the church. John Schorne was the Rector here from 1290 to 1314. He was a saintly man and is believed to have created a spring that became the source of the holy well by striking the ground with his staff. The waters were believed to have miraculous curative powers and after Schorne’s death, North Marston became the third most visited pilgrimage site in the country. Pray for those in need of healing today, whether in body, mind or spirit.

If we walk to the south porch and look up we can

a memorial to John Schorne. You can see at the

see that all around the chancel are 37 finely carved

bottom of the east wall of this chapel a recess.

stone heads called grotesques and these are

It appears to be a reliquary set into the wall

matched by twelve more grotesques around the

and may once have housed Schorne’s bones.

top of the tower. We can also see embattlements

A John Schorne commemorative panel sits in

and pinnacles. This is very sumptuous work and

the window of the chapel. Give thanks for those

a sign of major commitment in times gone by.

who have passed the torch of faith to you. Pray

What we are entering is a church that started

for those with whom you can share your faith in

off plain and simple but that has been lovingly

turn.

and elaborately dressed over the centuries. Give thanks for those who have loved and cared for

In the late 15th century, Schorne’s relics

this church over the centuries. Pray for the church

were removed from this church to a shrine

community today – and those still to come.

in St George’s Chapel at Windsor. By way of compensation, the Dean of Windsor paid to

Step into the church through the south door

have North Marston church refined, and that

and look to your right: you will see a small

accounts for much of the grandeur outside. Give

chapel. This chapel was originally dedicated to

thanks for the gift of creativity, for the craftsmen

the Virgin Mary but it has subsequently become

whose skill have enriched this church.

This is one of the most glorious chancels in Buckinghamshire. Beautiful stonework, a huge east window and an elaborate reredos. This was Queen Victoria’s gratitude after a local miser left her his entire fortune in his will.

She commissioned one of the country’s best architects to renovate the chancel in memory of

Now go outside and follow the south wall of

her benefactor, John Camden Nield. Think for a

the church eastwards and we’ll find a priest’s

moment about where you store your ‘treasure’.

door. Look at the stonework on each side of

Pray that you will live generously.

the door and see the remnants of several mass dials scratched by priests in medieval times

Although smaller, the memorial window set in

before they had clocks. They helped the priest

the north aisle wall betters the Nield window in

to measure the interval between the masses

its beauty and simplicity, especially viewed from

by using the shadow cast by sunlight on a peg

outside as the sun streams into the church through

placed in a hole in the wall. They were scratched

the nave’s clerestory windows. It commemorates

here around 600 years ago. Give thanks for our

the wife of a local businessman. Remember with

clergy and all those who help lead worship in

gratitude those you have loved but see no more.

this and your own community.

OXFORD DIOCESE PILGRIM PROJECT

Oxford Diocese Pilgrim Project: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, North Marston MK18 3PH

You might also like to visit other nearby churches in the Pilgrim Project: St Mary, Drayton Beauchamp Richard Hooker’s Church St Peter and St Paul, Olney ‘Amazing Grace’

Website: www.schorneteam.co.uk www.northmarston.org/church

St Peter ad Vincula, South Newington Exceptional medieval wall paintings

PILGRIMAGE PRAYER Pilgrim God, You are our origin and our destination.

Travel with us, we pray, in every pilgrimage of faith, and every journey of the heart.

Give us the courage to set off, the nourishment we need to travel well, and the welcome we long for at our journey’s end.

So may we grow in grace and love for you and in the service of others. through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

Illustrations by Brian Hall © Diocese of Oxford