This is an addition to the previous itinerary of the Pilgrimage, and one about which very little appears to be recorded. Early in 1466 the sizeable Bohemian delegation on embassy to England - whom we shall meet up with again at Reading Abbey - stopped at Andover on their way to Salisbury - and were shown, and admired, the statue of Our Lady which was, as they noted, carved “in the stone of alabaster”. That alas appears to be all that is recorded about the figure or its place in local devotion. We can perhaps assume that it had some resemblance to the surviving statue from Flawford.
The parish church in which I assume it stood was rebuilt in the 1840s, and only some fragments survive of it survive. The impressive Victorian building came close to being demolished in the not too distant past in the early 1970s, but was saved through the initiative of the townspeople. That attitudes towards conservation have changed is indeed good news but it is disturbing to see who was the prime mover in trying to demolish the church. The story about this episode can be read in David Borrett feature: When the town fought off the demolition of St Mary's
There is a description of the church, including the remains of its medieval predecessor at Church of St Mary, Andover, Hampshire
Our Lady of Andover pray for The King and The Queen and for us all.
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