A little overview…

St. Mark’s Church was built as a Chapel of Ease to All Saints’ in 1867.

The original architect was Sir Arthur Blomfield. It was extended in 1875, restored in 1958 after a fire in 1956 and extended again in the late 20th Century.

The money for the original building was raised by Canon Savory, Rector of the Parish and his Churchwardens. It was commenced in the autumn of 1865, and dedicated by Bishop Wilber-force of Oxford on April 29th 1867. The cost was £1650 and Mr Lawrence of Binfield was contractor of all works. The South Aisle was added in 1875.

The Fire…

On the evening of Saturday 29th December 1956, the church of St. Mark’s was severely damaged by fire. The centre light of the East window in the sanctuary depicting the Ascension and the Manger Throne was completely destroyed. The windows on the North and South sides of the sanctuary were also lost, as well as the beautiful jewelled cross and the Communion plate.

In addition the altar and reredos, the choir stalls, priest stalls and the beautifully carved oak screen perished in the flames. These were all gifts of former residents.

Fortunately, most of the stained glass windows were saved and the side lights, though damaged were repairable. An extract from Reading Mercury (Jan 5th 1957) read…

“Binfield Church is practically no more, only a burnt out shell remains…. When the Bracknell fire brigade was called at 12:15a.m. on Sunday 30th, the fire was already well ablaze and continued for about four hours. The pulpit was charred, the organ burnt out and as the firemen played their hoses on the flames, the church bell crashed on the altar steps.”

After the Fire

After it was rebuilt, St. Mark’s was re-dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Eric Knell, Bishop of Reading on July 22nd 1958. The architect was Frederick Etchells Esq and expenses were covered by insurance.

The Binfield Memorial

In the grounds of the church is the Binfield Memorial,
a stone cross with raised metal inscription on the top of the octagonal plinth. The plinth has an inscription and WW1 names inscribed round it, and stones added to the base have WW2 and Falkland Conflict names. 

Today…

The church and the grounds are now used to host our outreach projects, Youth Group activities and church events such as the Annual Binfield Church Fete. It is also available to hire for community functions.