St Bartholomew, Munsley

After the Normans had conquered England in 1066 and made their survey of the country, recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, they began a great programme of building. This included most of the country’s cathedrals and castles, as well as many smaller churches, one of which was this tiny church at Munsley.

“Moneslie” can be found in the Domesday Book, so it was a settlement before the Conquest, the present church was probably built on the site of an earlier timber Saxon building.

It is easy to imagine this little church as it would have looked when completed in 1100 because there has been comparatively little alteration. Many of the original narrow window openings have survived, splayed on the inside to let in as much light as possible, without too much wind and rain. In time larger windows, with glass where added, and all but two of the larger windows are of the 13th and 14th centuries. The font was made in the 1400’s. There was once a doorway on the north side, but this is now blocked, and the present doorway is 14th Century, with the porch rebuilt during the 1863 restoration.