About the village

Halford’s Church has occupied a central position in village life for over 800 years. There are many features of historic interest which may be seen as one looks around the building today.

The first recorded Rector of St Mary’s was inducted at Easter in 1150. This was a few years after the stone church, of which parts still remain, was built, and there may have been an earlier, probably timber building on the same site.

The village lies on the crossing point of the River Stour and the Fosse Way, the great Roman road which runs all the way from Exeter to Lincoln. It is most likely that the Roman travellers along this road were the first to bring Christianity to this part of Warwickshire.

From the 13th Century until 1918 Halford Parish was part of the Diocese of Worcester but since then it has been in the Coventry Diocese. Between 1932 and 1974 the Parish was united with the neighbouring Newbold-on-Stour. Since then Halford has been an independent Parish and for some years shared its Priest in charge with Alderminster just up the road on the way to Stratford-upon-Avon. This was before the formation of the "Stourdene" group of five Parishes in 1997, which brought Ettington, The Pillertons, and Butlers’ Marston into the same group as Alderminster and Halford.

Throughout the centuries, as today, the local community assists the Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council in the upkeep of the building and the churchyard including the regular tasks of cleaning, arranging floral decorations, the grass mowing and the laundering of altar linen.

The Church which is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus is well worth a visit with the South Chapel dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury , Thomas a’ Becket. There is a 14th Century Font with a 16th Century wooden cover, and the East window is of stained glass.

The ancient bells are rung for practice on Wednesday evenings and at the regular Sunday morning services, weddings and funerals. Antique Fire hooks are displayed round the font remembering time when thatched roofs in the village may have had to be torn off in a fire to stop it spreading.

All in all this Church is a delight to see with its displays of flowers placed by villagers for the Services.

Come in and see it.