Church of St Mary Magdalene, Willen


Church of St Mary Magdalene is a parish church in Willen, Milton Keynes, England. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1966.

History

The church was rebuilt in 1680 by Robert Hooke for Dr. Richard Busby, at a cost of nearly £5,000, besides the materials of the former edifice. Lipscomb observes that "with good management the church might have been built for a third part of the money."

Architecture and fittings

It is a plain structure in the Italian style, built of brick with stone dressings, and consists of a nave with apse, a chancel, and a west tower, through which the church is entered, by some stone steps. The tower contains three bells, each inscribed: "RICHARD CHANDLER MADE ME 1683". On each angle of the tower is an ornament somewhat in the shape of a pine apple. The side walls of the nave are pierced by six plain windows; the pulpit and desk are of oak; the font, of marble, is ornamented with heads of cherubim, and has a carved oak cover; the pews are neat, and ol oak; and the ceiling is coved, and enriched with angels' heads and other ornaments. The floor within the communion rails is paved with black and white marble. There is a vestry on one side of the tower, and on the other side is a room erected for a library, chiefly for divinity, and founded by Dr. Busby, for the use of the vicar. The books, to the number of 618, were removed to the vicarage, and in 1848, by order of the trustees, they were numbered and properly catalogued. The old church was like that of Great Woolston, though without a turret, the two bells belonging to it hanging in arches, as at Little Linford. The registers date from the year 1065.