The remains of wall paintings can be seen faintly on the walls (particularly in the tower) and a consecration cross of 1497 can be seen on the north side of the Chancel, beside the vestry door.
The Misericords, a feature not to be missed, may have come from Cirencester Abbey after the Dissolution (1540) and are of high quality. They depict scenes of rural and domestic life and show a great sense of humour. The oak screens in the chancel were probably installed by Sir Edmund Tame; the screens includes carvings of pomegranates, a symbol connected with Queen Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.
A large number of carved stone angels support the oak roof beams. In the chancel there are eight of the orders of angels and the ninth, Seraphim is overlooks John Tame’s tomb.
John Tame’s tomb of Purbeck marble lies between the Lady Chapel and the Chancel. It has a monumental brass depicting him and his wife Alice who died in 1471, John Tame is dressed in 15th Century armour but he was never was a knight nor the Lord of the Manor but he was a very successful merchant and a member of the Calais Staple with the rights to export wool to Europe.
In the corner of the Lady Chapel is the tomb of Katherine, Lady of the Manor of Fairford, widow of John Tame’s grandson, another Edmund. Katherine died in1584 and lies beside her third husband, Roger Lygon. In 1913 the Lady Chapel altar, designed by Geoffrey Webb, was given by Earl Beauchamp, a descendant of Roger Lygon.
As well as the monumental brass on John Tame’s tomb there are also brasses of Sir Edmund Tame who died in 1534 and his two wives Agnes Greville and Elizabeth Tyringham. Sir Edmund is credited with the rebuilding of St Peter’s Church in Rendcomb which is similar in style but smaller than St Mary’s.
There are many memorials on the walls of the Church. Four memorial tablets commemorate members of the Oldisworth family, once Impropriators of the Church tithes. Tablets also commemorate Bridget Tracy, wife of a former Lord of the Manor; the Reverend John Keble (co-founder of the Oxford Movement) who lived in Fairford and whose father was Vicar of Coln St Aldwyns; Alexander Ready a local solicitor who married into the Colston family of Bristol and took their surname; and Noelle, Countess of Rothes who was a Titanic survivor and lived in Fairford in the 1950s when married to Claude Macfie.
The moveable Nave Altar designed by Derek Elliott of Sherborne was installed in 2009 after the removal of some of the pews to create more space. It was a gift of Peter Yells, churchwarden of St Mary’s for 39 years.
The Font dates from an earlier church and bears the Yorkist badge the Sun in Splendor on the south side. The base of the font was found in the Vicarage garden in 1919 and was replaced in 1933 with a new surround of black and white stone tiles.
Fairford History Society
Updated 10th February 2025