Two churches
A church at Stow, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was in existence before 1178 when the Pope gave it to Ramsey Abbey who had held land in Stow since Saxon times. Although only 50 ft above sea level, the church is in a prominent position as the land drops away to the fens on the south and east and the site may well have been used earlier as a place of pagan worship since the name Stow usually means a holy place.
A church at Quy, dedicated to St Nicholas, stood not far from the central crossroads and the site is shown on OS maps. Incumbents were appointed only from 1292 to 1349 during which time the Stow church was being rebuilt. It was then thought to have reverted to a private chapel for Quy Hall. The land on which it stood belonged to Anglesey Abbey at the time of the Dissolution.
One Parish
Although Stow and Quy were treated as one settlement at the time of Domesday, when they were given to the Norman Sheriff Picot, the two were not officially joined together until 1279 and only became one ecclesiastical parish in 1380.
St Mary's Church
was rebuilt in 1340 with the tower added at the end of the 14th Century. There is the remant of a 12th Century arched window in the South aisle. Side chapels were added in the 13th Century, now part of the north and south aisles. The clerestory was added in the 15th Century. The brass of John Ansty of Quy Hall, who died in 1450, and of his 12 sons and 4 daughters remains near the pulpit although his wife's brass has been missing for many years. During the Civil War, Dowsing visited in 1643 but appears to have done little damage - the angels around the 15th Century font escaped although some faces in the nave may have been defaced then. The church building was in a neglected state in the mid 17th Century.
Five bells were made by John Darbie of Ipswich in 1665 and hung in the belfry with a ringing chamber halfway up the tower. Later the tower was not considered strong enough for ringing the bells whose combined weight is over 2 tons and the bells are now 'pinged' from levers in the vestry.
The chancel, part of the 14th Century building, was shortened from 44 feet to 26 feet in 1739 when the east end was in a bad state of repair. The screen dates to the 15th Century.
Clement Francis employed a London architect to rebuild Quy Hall in 1870. He then planned to restore St Mary's Church which was in a parlous condition and commissioned the same architect. The church was completely restored between 1879 and 1880 at a cost of £3,822. New porches were added both north and south. Sadly, Clement Francis died at the age of 62 a few months before the work was complete. His widow, Sarah Francis, continued with the work and the church was re-opened in November 1880. When Sarah Francis died in 1897, the family had an organ built by Norman and Beard of Norwich and this now blocks the south porch. The vicarage was built in 1887 and sold in the late 1990s. It is now a private house.
Notable Vicars
For many centuries, the Vicars were University people who lived in Cambridge and came out to take Sunday services. Two of these later became Archbishops: Thomas Herring (Vicar 1719-1721) was Archbishop of York between 1743 and 1747 and then Archbishop of Canterbury until 1757. Richard Stern (Vicar 1622-1635) was Archbishop of York between 1664 and 1683. Three vicars are buried in the Churchyard: Thomas Harrison (Vicar 1743-1753) who died of smallpox, Edward Ventris (Vicar 1825-1887) who was also Chaplain of the County Gaol and Richard Minter (1946-1997). On Mr Minter's death, Quy became part of the Anglesey Benefice with Lode and Bottisham.
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