In the Beginning The Parish Register The Old Saxon Church
Points of Interest Centenary Year Go to Main Church Page
In the Beginning
At the time of the Domesday survey Lockerley was a chapelry annexed to the church of Mottisfont. The name is entered as Lockerslei and Lockerlega and it is considered likely that the original simple chapel was built by William Briwere, founder of Mottisfont Abbey in C1200. The image here is of a model of the saxon church which was mad prior ot the felling of the saxon building. The photo below suggests that this was a fairly accurate model. The present church was consecrated on October 16th 1890 and was built alongside the old Saxon church which was demolished. Go to Top
Parish Register
The parish registers of births, marriages and deaths date in unbroken sequence from the first Queen Elizabeth's reign in 1583 and records the names of generations of former worshippers, many of them ancestors of families still in the parish, such as Dennet, Moody, Collins and Betteridge to name but a few. Amongst the parish registers a loose sheet of paper dated 1745 gives a seating plan of the old church. Familiar family names reappear, Edney, Betteridge, Pragnell and amongst the houses to which seats are allocated are The Manor Farm, The Charity School Farm and Painshill. There were separate seats for strangers and also Wummen's Setes! The foundation stone of the present church was laid on 10th August 1889 by Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety of Lockerley Hall and he built the church at his sole expense. Go to Top
The Old Church
The 1855 census describes the old Saxon church as “a small mean building with tile roof and wooden belfry containing two bells”. Perhaps this is why the Dalgety family felt the need to rebuild. In the churchyard in spring, rows of daffodils mark the outline of the walls of the old church; the cornerstones remain and an old tombstone placed horizontally marks the site of the altar. A model of the old church, presented by Captain Dalgety, is on view in the porch. Little else remains of the old church; once again in the porch, you will notice the old font and, set in the wall above the inner doorway, are the weather cock and a piece of carved oak from the gallery. Go to Top
Points of Interest
The most interesting relic is the stone frame of a small Norman window which is now set in the South transept of the church. This was found discarded under a may tree in the churchyard and is thought to be a leper or squint window. All the other points of interest date from the time of the building of the present church figure head and many reflect life at the end of the late 1900s. It is reputed, for example, that the Dalgety crest above the small side entrance in the South transept signifies that this door was for the exclusive use of the Dalgety family. Older parishioners talk of the Dalgety pew in the south transept. The paintings on either side of the altar were painted in Victorian style to depict the elements of the old testament - from left to right, Sarah and Abraham represent Faith (tested when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac), Melchizadek represents Sacrifice (holding a chalice foretelling the chalice of Christ's blood) and Moses holding the stone tablets of the ten commandments represents Law. It is said that during the blackout of World War II, when services had to be held in the afternoon, the winter sun reflected in the gilding of these paintings lighted the church. Go to Top
Centenary year 1990
To celebrate the centenary of the church in 1990, 100 kneelers were made by people in the parish, mostly to their own designs. They, in their own way, reflect life at the end of the 20th century and continue the thread of dedication and worship at Lockerley. Go to Top