Architectural Features
Four C19 three-light windows with trefoiled heads to C15 clerestory above.
Pointed 3- light window with tracery and finely carved foliate stops at west end.
St Mary's churchyard, Prestbury.
Battlemented parapet with gargoyles at each corner.
C15 bellcote at east end of the nave.
C15 chancel arch rising from engaged octagonal piers.
Plank flooring with coloured tile and grey slate in the aisles.
C19 figure of Virgin and Child over south door.
C14 double piscina, comprising 2 cinquefoil-headed niches both with credence shelves.
The main range seen here is The Little Priory, now a separate dwelling but once a wing of The Priory, of which is seen the gable end on the left. The Priory has parts from the 14th century and the late 16th or early C17th century. The 14th century part is constructed of close-studded timber framing with pebble dashed infill exposed on the first floor with the ground floor now mostly random squared and dressed limestone. The later part is random squared and dressed limestone, all under a stone slate roof. Some original internal features remain. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1091902 The Little Priory is mid 18th century, extended in the late 19th century and again in the 20th century. Constructed of squared, coursed and dressed limestone under a stone slate roof. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1091906 The village of Prestbury, occupied since Saxon times, is some 1½ miles northeast of the town of Cheltenham, which it once rivalled as a commercial centre. A market was established in 1249, but it declined and the historic village is now merely a suburb of the larger town. The village is home to Prestbury Park, the Cheltenham Racecourse. The village is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Britain.
Small carved aumbry door (probably early C18) with carved decoration.
C19 marble font inside south door decorated with painted figures.
Early C20 wooden pulpit with finely carved detail.
Monuments
The Anglican parish church of St Mary is originally 13th century but was mostly rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries in the Perpendicular style. The church was heavily restored in the 1860s. Constructed of ashlar with a stone slate roof to the nave and lead roof to the aisles. The church has some fine monuments on the inside walls and a number of listed tombs in the churchyard. Listed, grade II*, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1153687 The village of Prestbury, occupied since Saxon times, is some 1½ miles northeast of the town of Cheltenham, which it once rivalled as a commercial centre. A market was established in 1249, but it declined and the historic village is now merely a suburb of the larger town. The village is home to Prestbury Park, the Cheltenham Racecourse. The village is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Britain.
Monument to Edward Hotheway and Amy his wife, he died 1754, she died 1747: white marble tablet on pier of northern nave arcade with palm leaf fronds at bottom and brackets with foliate decoration either side.
Two C19 monuments to members of the De la Bere family and three other C19 white or black marble monuments at west end of the south aisle.
Finely carved C19 white marble monument depicting the Virgin and Child at east end of the vestry.
Monument to Christopher Capel, Gent, died 1740 and Sarah his wife, died 1733: white marble plaque with floral swags either side.
Three C19 monuments to members of the Agg family on south wall of chancel.
C19 glass to clerestory.
The Stained glass east window in St Mary's church, Prestbury. The glass is the work of Henry Payne.