St Mary and All Saints Church,
Droxford
Saxon 'Drockensford'

The land around Droxford was
colonised in the decades after
the Romans left Britain in 411. A
Saxon cemetery was in use from
about 450 in the beech woods above
the village near to where the Upland Park
hotel is situated today. Evidence of over 300
burials has been found, many of whom were huntsmen buried with their spears. The villageis called ‘Drocenesford’ in a Saxon charter dated 826 and it is possible that ‘Droken’ means children - the place where it is safe for children to cross the river. There are several other possible meanings of the name.

The Victorian stained glass window in the Lady Chapel includes an image of Wilfrid with the builders of the church. However, the first church on the site probably dates from the time of the charter given by King Egbert in 826 granting 20 hides of land at ‘Drocenesford’ to the Monks at Winchester Monastery. The present church is Norman in origin and there is evidence of its existence in the 1086 Domesday Survey.

The limits of the Norman church can be seen by the thick pillars in the nave which were once part of the external wall and an inspection of the chancel arch reveals how it has been raised four feet higher than it was originally.

There is a rather fine stone tomb effigy of a woman in the lady chapel which was found in a local meadow in 1820, probably having been thrown out by the Puritans, and returned to the church. It is thought that the lady may be the mother of John de Drockensford, who was the son of the local Squire and was keeper of the Wardrobe to Edward I, and Chancellor of the Exchequer to Edward II, and finally Bishop of Bath and Wells. His tomb is in Wells Cathedral.