When we meet
| Second Sunday | Evensong or Great LivesBook of Common Prayer Evensong, about an hour; or, some months, a Great Lives talk in its place. | 6.00pm |
| Fourth Sunday | Holy Communion | 9.30am |
A few times a year, when a month has a fifth Sunday, the whole benefice gathers for one Communion, taking turns to host. See the whole month.
Gallery
More pictures from all six churches are in the benefice gallery.
About the church
St Michael's has had a congregation since Anglo-Saxon times. Its ministry of worship, prayer and welcome continues today.
Inside it is a little gem. Of particular interest is the beautiful Palladian window of 1723 at the east end.
The churchyard is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, worth a visit in spring and summer in its own right for its orchids and butterflies. A short leaflet in church highlights the wildlife around you.
In more detail
Herringbone flint
The nave is early twelfth century, with three windows and a north doorway of that date. Its walls are two feet eight inches thick and built of flint laid in a herringbone pattern, with wrought stone quoins at the western angles. That herringbone work is the mark of a very early building.
The chancel is a fifteenth-century enlargement. The porch was added in 1881 and the vestry in 1882.
The east window of 1723
The east window of the chancel has three lights, the middle one round-headed and the others flat, divided by detached square shafts inside and out with Ionic capitals.
The two bells
One of the two bells reads Sancta Maria ora pro nobis, Holy Mary pray for us, which means it was cast before the Reformation. The other, of 1636, simply reads Love God. A third was cracked and recast.
The font and a coffin lid
The font is probably thirteenth century, a round cup-shaped bowl on a short round stem, partly retooled. There is also a coffin lid with an carved cross of the fourteenth century. Among the churchyard stones, the oldest of the Cox family dates from 1748.
From Ogbourne to St Katharine's
The advowson was first held by the Prior of Ogbourne. In 1441 Henry VI granted the manor of Quarley to St Katharine's Hospital, which kept the patronage, confirmed by a charter of Edward IV in 1462.
Architectural and historical detail on this page is drawn from A History of the County of Hampshire, volume 4, edited by William Page and published in 1911, through British History Online. Please send us more details or corrections if you have them.
Who to ask
- ChurchwardenMrs Joanna Fergusonjoannamary.ferguson@gmail.com
- ChurchwardenMrs Ali Thompsonalisonthompson82@btinternet.com
- TreasurerMr John Normanquarleychurch@gmx.co.uk
- PCC SecretaryMrs Alison Thornerexdale@live.co.uk
Quarterly talks and conversation about historical figures, four times a year, at 6pm on a second Sunday in place of Evensong.
A Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, this church has beautiful orchids and butterflies, and supplies a short leaflet that highlights the abundant nature around you.