Bedwyn Minster III

St. Mary's church, Great Bedwyn, lies west of the village centre, and has been the focus of the local religious community for over 1000 years. It is a splendid church, with a grandeur normally unsuspected of a small village. This splendour may reflect past mediaeval glories, for the church contains tombs belonging to the family of a Queen of England. Or perhaps there is another reason. During the reign of King Alfred, the church served a community which was greater than the one of today, and which lived in an area extending far beyond the bounds of the modern parish. An explanation for the magnificence of St Mary's church may lie in its Saxon origins.