Lambourn and its church are of ancient importance and there is a considerable literature available to researchers. At least four Anglo-Saxon documents refer to town and church, notably the Charters of Edmund to Eadric (934) and Eadwig to Eadric (955), and the Wills of Alfred (888) and Aethelfred (991). The association of King Alfred within this part of England is well known and it is therefore not surprising that in his Will there is a reference to his ‘manor’ at Lambourn. Alfred was a devout Christian so it is reasonable conjecture that he may have had something to do with the founding or improvement of the church at Lambourn.
The dedication
of the church to Michael the Archangel was a popular one in Saxon
times, the addition of ‘All Angels’ coming later. There is a charter of
King Canute (1032) that refers to the church as Lambourn Minster but
there is no other evidence that there once was a minster or monastery
here, although remarkably large rural churches can often be shown to
have once been part of or associated with a religious house. There may
well have been one such foundation here as religious orders were famous
for their choice of picturesque and sheltered valley sites for their
houses.
The charter of King Canute may have been the occasion of the granting of the church, its endowments, and the advowson (the right of presentation to the benefice) to the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. The Dean continued as patron of this benefice in the ancient diocese of Salisbury until 1836 when Berkshire became part of the diocese of Oxford and the patronage passed to the Bishop of Oxford and his successors.
(These notes and the associated links are extracts from “A Short Guide to the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels Lambourn”, available for purchase at the Church. The compilers acknowledge their indebtedness to Footman’s History of Lambourn Church, the Victoria History of the County of Berkshire, Morley’s ‘Monumental Brasses of Berkshire’ and Pevsner’s ‘Berkshire’ in the Penguin ‘Buildings of England’ series.)
