About Us

First, a brief history. Until about 1911, Ashwell was an estate owned village and St Mary’s church stands at its largely undisturbed centre. Mainly of 14th century origin, serious restoration of the church was undertaken by the great Victorian architect William Butterfield in 1851. Butterfield designed the lych-gate, rebuilt the top of the tower and redesigned the interior, making it one of his most important restoration projects. In the south chapel there is a wooden figure of a crusader of about 1280 and in the churchyard there are the remains of a holder of the Victoria Cross (VC), The Rev JW Adams MA VC who died in 1903 as vicar having won his VC in the Afgan War.

But St Mary's is not just history! Despite serving a very small community, we continue to be a centre of living faith. We would be delighted to welcome you to any of our services, if you are able to visit. Details of service times are on our website.