St Michael's Church

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Buckland & Laverton’s beautiful masterpiece.

Interestingly, in the South and West of England there are a number of villages called Buckland, sometimes with an additional name such as Buckland Brewer, Buckland in the Moor and Buckland Monachorum, so- called because they were originally “boke land”, that is land granted by a book or charter and accordingly privately owned.

Buckland in Gloucestershire is first mentioned in a charter dated 709 which recorded that the Manor of Bokland was given by Kynred, King of the Mercians to St Peter’s Abbey, Gloucester. The Abbey continued to hold it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries some 800 yéars later.

A church was built here in the 13th century at a time when the early English style of building was evolving into to more stylishly decorated Gothic architecture. The church, like many others in the Cotswolds is dedicated to Saint Michael.

The church tower was built in the 14th century, with another section added in the 15th century. This later section includes beautifully carved stone grotesque demons, known commonly as Gargoyles… now  an amazing feature at Buckland Church.

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The east window contains three panels of beautifully painted glass which are said to have formed part of an earlier window from another building, possibly Hailes Abbey. They represent three of the seven Sacraments - Baptism, Holy Matrimony, and Extreme Unction and were presented to the church by William Grafton, Rector from 1466 until 1510. The glass was restored in 1883 by the workmen of William Morris working under his direction. The artist was living in the area at that time and on visiting the church he noted the windows were in a poor condition, but realizing their fine quality and importance, he offered his help to perform a much needed restoration.

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One of Buckland church’s many beautiful features include stunning carved pews in the south aisle were known as “The Shepherds’ Pews”; this was so-called because they were occupied by the shepherds who entered the church with their dogs by the west door at the rear of the church and not through the porch to disturb other members of the congregation. This information is taken from church records, articles and papers compiled by Robert Camac and others.

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