Photograph of the interior of St Mary's Church, Old Alresford
Taken about 1870
The interior of this mid-eighteenth century church at Old Alresford shows the hand of Victorian modernisation; the transept which was added to the south is just discernable on the right hand side of the image. The incumbent - the Reverend George Sumner, son of the Bishop of Winchester - played a very active part in the alterations to the church in the 1860s and '70s.
The nave is enlivened by the monument on the left-hand wall, attributed to Sir Henry Cheere, which commemorates Jane, first wife of the distinguished Admiral, Lord George Brydges Rodney of Alresford House; she died in 1757 at the age of twenty-seven after the birth of her third child. It seems from extant letters that they were devoted to each other, and the monument is undoubtedly expressive. It is possible to discern two allegorical figures perched on a ledge representing Faith and Hope, one holding a book and the other an anchor, above which is a bust of Mrs Rodney.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
