The History of St Andrew's
In 2025, St Andrew's marked the milestone of 800 years of clergy.
Below are some accounts of the church's history.
An Account of the early history of St Andrew’s Church
as delivered during the Parish Communion on 15th June 2025
The 800 th anniversary of St Andrew’s is an awesome event. It is humbling, and rather daunting to contemplate how short is our own period of worship here within this vast stretch of time. I feel honoured to have been a parishioner in Medstead for nearly five decades, and personally I have always felt very aware of a strong spirituality within these ancient walls.
We know our church goes back far further than the 800 years of recorded incumbents that we can confirm.
Sadly, Medstead never had a Lord of the Manor in the Middle Ages. If it had, records of those earlier times would have
been kept as they have been in other ancient village churches.
The diocese of Winchester was founded in 635AD and Christianity began to spread out from there into the villages of Hampshire. While the cathedral was under construction, King Cenwealh endowed the Liberty of the Manor on Old Alresford for the establishment of a church there to include two chapelries at what we now know as New Alresford, and at Medstead.
New churches were usually built near to a pagan site to help prevent converts from reverting to their old beliefs. There are several tumuli near our church.
An Anglo-Saxon fort also existed on the land behind the Castle of Comfort. Its remains were recently built over with access from the top of Trinity Hill. Until then the humps and ridges forming the shape of this strategic outpost were easy to see – it was a fun place for my children to scramble over. New Christian churches in Hampshire were often sited near Anglo-Saxon settlements and it would have made sense to site Medstead’s new place of worship right here.
During the 1980s we lived at the top of Trinity Hill at Castle Warden. An unusual name for a house. It always thrilled me to think that generations of castle wardens could have lived on the site of our house as far back as 500AD!
The new designated holy meeting place at Medstead, would have evolved over time. Initially it would have comprised just a simple cross set in the ground. This would later have been enclosed in a wooden altar house. Then, gradually, a wooden nave would have been built to allow worshippers shelter from the elements. The earliest proper church would have been made from timber with wattle and daub and would have had a thatched roof and shutters at the windows with rushes on the floor. It would have been very dark but since no one could read a prayer book this didn’t matter. It is believed that the first stone church at Medstead was built in the eleventh century. It is obliquely mentioned in the
Doomsday Book of 1086 as being one of the 3 churches around Old Alresford held by Wakelin the then Bishop of Winchester.
The two Norman arches along the north wall were built in about 1160. At this time wall paintings and hangings depicting The Last Judgement and scenes from Christ’s ministry would have adorned our walls. These would have acted as an inspiration to parishioners whose experiences of life would not have extended beyond the distance they could walk in a day.
It is awe inspiring to sit still, shut our eyes and imagine the villagers of Medstead in their simple home-spun clothing, some probably barefoot, seated on rough pews in this very building all those years ago, and praising the Lord just as we do today.
With thanks to Liz Gilbert for her account.
800 Years of Clergy
History lives in the very stones of our church.
Following the baptism of the Saxon King Cynegils in 634 and the re-establishment of the Christian faith in Wessex, the King granted land to the Church in Winchester which became known as the “Liberty of Alresford”, and included what we now know as the parishes of Old Alresford, New
Alresford and Medstead. In 1086 a chapel in Medstead was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The chapel was subsequently demolished and in 1160 the Norman Church of St Andrew’s was constructed.
And so, although a place of worship existed on this site long before the names of clergy were recorded, our story starts 800 years ago.
If you've seen any Robin Hood film, you’ll recognise King John—the infamous ruler who lost the crown jewels in The Wash. But it was his son, Henry III, who, in 1225, reissued the Magna Carta, reinforcing the rights of nobles and the Church. At that time, a clergyman Godfrey de Tostes, was appointed here in Medstead, setting the stage for centuries of faith and tradition.
What followed on the national stage was a tug-of-war between kings and barons, lasting decades. Then Edward I took the throne. He was a ruler who built mighty castles, crushed Wales, and memorably waged war against Scotland, as some of you may remember from the film Braveheart.
England grew prosperous, towns flourished, and the countryside thrived. That is, until 1348, when the Black Death arrived in England. Half of England’s population perished, clergy and monks died in droves tending to the sick, and local churches, like this one, were thrown into turmoil.
Out of that chaos came the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, shaking the power of the crown. Instability followed, eventually leading to the Wars of the Roses, a brutal feud between rival houses fighting for the throne. Then, in 1485, Henry VII defeated Richard III at Bosworth, launching the Tudor dynasty. The Tudors learned a lesson: a strong throne needed a clear heir.
That concern drove Henry VIII, in 1534, to sever ties with Rome and establish the Church of England. From that time forward, apart from a brief return to Catholicism under Mary I, the clergy here have been Anglican.
In 1576 John Watson was our incumbent. He was later to become Bishop of Winchester, one of the first protestant bishops in England. He was also Master of St Cross, Winchester.
England’s faith was tested again during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Royalists and Parliamentarians clashed, Charles I lost his head, and for a time, the monarchy disappeared. Churches suffered; their stunning imagery was stripped away in the name of puritan reform.
Dr Peter Heylin had been appointed Rector in 1633. Heylin was a distinguished scholar, very much a royalist, and a friend of Charles I, becoming his chaplain. Because of his strong support for King Charles and his religious views, he was deprived of his preferment and stripped of all his property. Heylin escaped arrest in 1643 and spent the rest of the Civil War in hiding, returning to resume his role as rector of the Liberty of Alresford in 1661.
Though the monarchy was restored in 1660, years spent in Catholic France shaped Charles II and James II, leading to more unrest.
By 1688, England had had enough. William of Orange took the throne in the “Glorious Revolution”, securing parliamentary supremacy and shaping the constitutional monarchy we know today.
John Hoadley took office here in in 1737. His father, Benjamen, was Bishop of Winchester and John himself would later become Chancellor of Winchester. John was a poet and dramatist, as well as a cleric who collected preferments. He must have been a busy chap as he was rector of Michelmersh, Alresford, Wroughton in Wiltshire, St Mary near Southampton, in addition to being a prebend of Winchester and from 1760, Master of St Cross in Winchester.
Meanwhile, the Liberty of Alresford lasted until 1850 when the settlements of Old Alresford, New Alresford and Medstead each became a separate parish with its own incumbent. Up until about 1850 therefore, the Rectors list at Old Alresford is identical to that of St Andrew’s Medstead. Old Alresford was considered an “attractive living” and that was reflected in some of the noteworthy incumbents I have described!
George Henry Sumner, later to be Bishop of Guildford, became the incumbent in 1850. Born into an ecclesiastical family, his father, Charles was Bishop of Winchester. His uncle, John Bird Sumner was Archbishop of Canterbury, and was married to Hannah Bird, a first cousin of William
Wilberforce.
George’s wife, Mary Sumner was the founder of the Mother’s Union, now an international movement with over 4 million members in 84 countries. Both George and Mary are buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Since the 1700’s our country has seen industrialisation and expansion, empire and colonialism and promulgated the abolition of slavery. In more recent history we have seen some of the worst atrocities humanity can wreak on itself through two world wars and subsequent conflicts. In
Medstead we honour the sacrifice of those who served at our annual Remembrance Service.
While Medstead never became an industrial hub, the ripples of history reached here. Agricultural advancements, migration to nearby cities like Winchester and London, and economic shifts all shaped this community.
And so, the story continues. These walls have stood through the triumphs, crises, and transformations of nearly a millennium, and they remain a testament to the resilience of the people, the faith, and the ever-changing world beyond, to whom many clergy have faithfully ministered throughout the last 800 years.
With thanks to Tracey George Jones for her account.
The 800 Years Celebrations
The weekend of 14-15th June 2025 saw Saint Andrew’s celebrate eight hundred years of having had a Vicar, recorded at the church. It could even be longer than that.
Parts of our church, the Norman pillars, go back to the eleventh century. We know that Medstead was part of a chapelry linked to a new church in Old Alresford, requested by the Bishop of Winchester in 635 AD. That is a long time. Well worth a celebration. Visitors were very interested in that.
We had an amazing weekend, with wonderful weather and many visitors from near and far. We are so grateful to all those who helped to make this so successful. A lot of people put a lot of time, artistry, skill and effort into all the exhibits and flower arrangements in the church. And, there were delicious cakes and tea which were also available, in the hall, surrounded by lovely works of art. Such amazing contributions. It was very special. Thank you all.
The church porch was rustic in inspiration with a display of historic farming implements and artefacts mixed in with red geraniums. There were displays by many organisations including, The Watercress Line, the Guides, the WI’s, Riding for the Disabled, the Gardening Club. The journal of the Old School was of great interest with its records of how Measles, Scarlet Fever and Mumps emptied the School.
On Sunday morning at a special 11.am Parish Communion Service, led by the Reverend Peter Owen Jones, we had very interesting accounts of the history of the church over the centuries from Liz Gilbert and Tracey George Jones.
An evening Songs of Praise Service, was led by the Reverend Howard Wright, the present Vicar, whose name is now added to the long list of Rectors on the board in the church. What a responsibility. Seven parishioners gave short accounts of their family association with the church, and what that meant to them. Ian Jurd spoke about Grismond Scourfield, Tony Chivers and the Reverend David Bray, who had made such an impact on his life. Jennifer Lines, who has worshipped at the church since 1962, drew our attention to an eighteenth century memorial plaque to a curate , which she studied, when she sang in the choir for many years.
There were also some booklets available. There was a History of Medstead, which was reprinted for the occasion. There was an updated History of Medstead Church, and a new booklet about the stained glass windows, researched by Hilary Oldham and printed by David Hayward. All of which are fascinating, and expand our knowledge of the past. It was a very interesting and rewarding weekend, for all who joined us. Much to think about as we continue with our contributions to the history of Saint Andrew’s Church, and contemplate it’s future. Thank you for your part in this historic event.
With thanks to Anne Lofthouse for her account.