In 1481 it passed to Sir Thomas St Leger who obtaine licence from the king to grant the manor to the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor. And it remained in their possession until 1876 except during the Commonwealth period, it was then sold to the second Duke of Wellington.

The rector from 1824 was John Keate who was previously the head master at Eton and he died in 1852. The church is dedicated to St Mary and dates back to the 14th century, though it had restoration work done in 1868-69. The timberwork is mostly concealed by the flint walling but the large cusped beams have been left exposed. The timbers form a large lozenge shape with an upright post in the middle and the sight is quite breathtaking. The west wall has a pattern of timbers that have been blackened with age and the pulpit which is Jacobean is well made and there is a rather nice screen with a cruciform at its top. On one of the walls there hangs a portrait of Lady Abigail Somerton who died in 1692.

And two small boys are shown crying on either. A skeleton is depicted leering back at anybody who cares to gaze at the monument.

On the same wall the visitor can read of two brothers, both of whom were killed in the first World War in their capacity as captains. Special mention is made of one of them who was laid to rest in Persia after he had won the DSO. He was Robert Durnford. The chancel is the final resting place of the remarkable John Keate, rector and schoolmaster here for about 25 years. He was born in Wells in 1773, the son of a parson-schoolmaster. He attended Eton from the age of 11 and went on to Cambridge at 18. He was a distinguished classical scholar who gained a fellowship, after which he took holy orders and returned to Eton as an assistant-master at only 24.

THE CHURCH OF- ST MARY