St Michael & All Angels Church, Great Witley

The present Great Witley Church was built by Lady Foley following the death of her husband, the first Lord Foley, in 1733. The 13th century building it replaced was demolished, and an avenue of yew trees is now growing close to where it once stood.

The interior of Lady Foley's Church is understood to have been plain with a flat ceiling, plain windows and walls, box pews, and a high pulpit with a sounding board above. It was transformed by the second Lord Foley, when he acquired the contents of Cannons Chapel (Edgeware, Middlesex), from the estate of the Duke of Chandos, following his financial ruin after the collapse of the South Sea Company (the so called “South Sea Bubble”) in 1720.

(Information provided by Rosemary Lockie)