Local Churches

St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church lies at the heart of a small Bedfordshire village in an area known as Marston Vale. Up until the early 21st Century this area was famous for brick making. Established in the 19th Century, this industry lasted for over a century. Now it is seen as a place of population development and as the site of the Millennium Park. This latter establishment is the central focus of a developing community forest, where native woodland is being re-established in what was once a scarred area, due to the extraction of the valuable clay deposits. Artificial boating lakes have been developed over the years as a way of filling in clay pits and making an area of beauty for recreational purposes. This aim to beautify continues to the present day. Against this background, the ancient church of St. Mary’s Marston Moreteyne has watched over the changing face of the Vale since the mid-fifteenth century. Evidence exists that there was probably an earlier church on the site, which may have been established in Anglo Saxon times.

The unusual detached tower of the church, with its thick walls at the base, suggest that this was once a watchtower, or a place of refuge in times of strife. There is a theory that it may have been used to protect villagers from the pillage of the Vikings, whose long ships may have sailed as far as Bedford on the River Ouse. We will probably never the know the truth of this … but it makes for a good story!

Inside the church, from Medieval times, parts of a painted ‘Rood Screen’ and fragments of old glass can be seen. Other interesting features are the Font and the carved roof with its angels, one of which is mysteriously missing. The angels were removed by parishioners to save them from Cromwell’s iconoclastic zeal and all but one of them returned after the Restoration. There are niches where statues of Saints once stood and unusual ‘squints’ cut through the Chancel from the Reynes Chapel through which, it is believed, priests watched the progress of the services in order to be ‘on cue’ for entry. An alternative suggestion for these openings was for lepers or other ‘undesirables’ to stand to watch the service without causing offence.

St Mary the Virgin Church, as has been stated, is largely 15th Century and contains ‘treasures’ from that period, notably the ‘Doom’ painting which can be seen above the Chancel Arch. This was known to have existed, even though it remained covered until the 1960’s, when a team from the Victoria and Albert Museum revealed what had been concealed for centuries. A ‘Doom’ painting shows the Last Judgement and the separation of the souls, when Christ returns. Marston’s ‘Doom’, is arguably the best in the County (where very few examples exist) and among the finest in the Country from the point of view of their preservation.

Vale Community Church

VALE’S BEGINNINGS: Church Planting had been on the heart of Bromham Baptist Church (BBC) for a number of years and in early 2005 it came to the forefront as part of the then minister’s vision. From that time on they sought God for the way forward, both in terms of location and leadership. After much prayer, and many pictures and words, they felt led to Marston Moretaine, a village with a population of approx. 4000, 8 miles south of Bromham and four miles east of Junction 13 of the M1.

The vision was to establish an emerging expression of church, aimed at unbelievers and the ‘de-churched’, which would develop into a full expression of Christian community for those who didn’t connect with ‘traditional’ styles of church. It was felt that as well as focusing on mission locally they should have an international focus, which led to an early link with the Williamson family in Cusco, Peru who had been on a similar journey themselves.

A Special Church Member’s Meeting in January 2008 confirmed the call to plant a church in Marston Moretaine to be led by BBC’s Staff Elder, Steve Gaunt, and his wife Jo-Ann. Although two couples lived in the village, nobody else had heard of them, so 12 months were spent building relationships and becoming known in the community.