Olveston Village
The Street, with the tower of St. Mary the Virgin, showing in the background. On the right of the picture is Cromwell House.
To the left, and out of picture, the road leads via The Green to the 17th century Quaker Meeting House and, beyond that, the village duck pond.
On the left can be see the village's general store. Along The Street is the village baker.
Further on, the main crossroads, as seen below, is shared by the old Post Office (now closed), facing us, the White Hart to the right, Churchill House, not in the picture, and St Mary the Virgin to the left.
Below is the view of St Mary's, with the war memorial, as seen from the Post Office.
The building itself dates back to 1170, and is thought to be on, or very close to, the site of a much earlier Saxon church - recorded in 620.
Rebuilding of the simple Norman cruciform structure commenced in 1370, resulting in considerable enlargement on the north and south sides (we are looking from the north east), leaving only the tower with its supporting arches of the original Norman building.
The two-storey porch with the 'parvis' room above the south door, which had external stairs on the east side, is typical of the 14th century.
Visible above the clock is a tablet recording the rebuilding of the tower in 1606. The spire was replaced by an embattled parapet with pinnacles.
A ring of five bells was cast at Chepstow in 1732 and a sixth was cast in London in 1811. The six bells were recast in Loughborough in 1907 to give the present ring of eight.
The original Norman font was replaced by a copy in 1871. The present font, which is Norman, came from a disused church. There is an elegant three tier chandelier of the 18th century, a gift from Bristol Cathedral.