St Michaels & All Angels Church, Witley
There's quite a grand church on site at Witley Court and we have Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley to thank for that. We didn't get to inspect the church in our usual manner as it was active and in service at the time, so this is another reason we need to return, but no harm in telling you about it in the meantime!
In 1735 the second Baron Foley built a new parish church after his father has expressed intentions to. It quickly became the CoE Parish church for both Great Witley and Little Witley, which is no surprise after the village had to be moved due to the house expansion. Seems a bit rude to say you dont have access to our private chapel after you have to relocate!
It helped, of course, that Great Witley had always been a close and successful community even back in the Saxon times. They would have had their own church and it is believed that the church would have been on or near the site that the current one is. So this may have simply been a renovation of the existing parish church.
So here it sat for a hundred years or so, pretty basic structurally but with some expensive stained glass and interior paintings, until Lord Ward returned to his estate once Queen Adelaide had vacated and decided to renovate both the court and the church. He replaced the box pews, lectern, font, and even the floor before the organ was enlarged and rebuilt 14 years later. The Countess of Dudley also made her mark on the church and designed new gold mosaic panels.
1920 then rolled around and of course Sir Herbert Smith owned the site by then and he brought electricity to the church. Unfortunately, when the fire tore through the court in 1937, the church also began to develop issues. It took just under 30 years for the parish of Great Witley to get fed up and take matters into their own hands. In the 1960s they formed a committee and rallied for restoration work to be done. The major restoration took place in 1993 focusing on the walls and the ceiling. Then in 2004 the cupola was restored and the dome gilded, two years later the bells were recast and work took place so the smaller one could chime. 2013 brought restoration to the 1804 Samuel Thorp tower clock which was moved to the crypt after its refurbishing the year before. The Museum of London's Archaeology Service were brought in and found nine lead coffins that were in different stages of decay. It is now opened to the public for viewing! In 2016 the slate roof was stripped and refurbished, a year later the Foley Memorial was cleaned, and then most recently in 2022 the South clock face had its centre replaced and regilded. So it has been a labour of love, but this committee was the best thing that could have happened to the church!
We actually feel a bit gutted about the fact we missed out on this one. Especially now we know there is a crypt we can visit! You know we are a bit macabre and love a lead coffin! So this is back on the wishlist and with any luck we can visit again soon!
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