St Mary's, Foy - Church Record Presentation
| Church Record being presented to Rev Knight and Andrew Netting (churchwarden) |
| by Christopher Nicholson on behalf of Ross-on-Wye Church Recorders |
St. Mary's Church at Foy near Ross on Wye has over the last 4 years been inspected and recorded by a team of 12 members of the Ross on Wye church recording group from the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts. This very fine parish church is situated on the west Bank of the Wye 4 miles upstream of Ross.
The first church may have been sited here in the Dark Ages but the current church was erected in the 13th Century while major alterations and additions took place in the 15th, 17th, 19th and 20th centuries. The team discovered many fine examples of wood work, stone work,metal work, ledger stones / memorials and windows.
For example, the chancel screen which is 16th/17th century with Victorian restoration, has interesting carvings including hedgehog and green men. The pulpit is seven sided with a sloping recessed stem and beaded moulding.
The east window consists of 4 lights, 3 tracery lights and 6 eyelets all dated 1675 and is a copy of a window in St. Tysilio Church Sellack.
Sadly during the listing of the stone work, half of a medieval child's stone sarcophagus lid was discovered to have been stolen. The font is a fine large 15th century decagonal stone font.
The police were able to use the Record of Church Furnishings to help with their investigation as it gave a full description of the missing lid.
An appeal on the BBC's The One Show, and after more than three years of police investigations, led to the thief, trained actor Chris Cooper, submitting a confessional, complete with maps to Hereford police station. Cooper had not just stolen the sarcophagus lid, but also an extraordinary collection of items from other churches around the country, dating back to the ninth century. The collection was estimated to be worth around £750,000. and described as "totally unparalleled". He was sentenced to three years and eight months.
Christopher Nicholson, who led the team at St. Mary's, said: "The great moment came when the church reinstalled and rededicated the lid. We then realised our photographs and description provided the police with crucial proof for the prosecution".
Now that the contents of the church have been photographed and recorded, copies of the report are sent to the Victoria and Albert museum London, the National Records Swindon, the Diocese, and the Parish. A bound copy was presented to the parish on Sunday July 14th 2013
Click here for a summary of the church record
Here are some examples of pages from the report:
