Can you help the congregation at St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale solve a mystery? The altar underneath the window at the far end of the church is Tudor in style and has an inscription “GIVEN BI HENRIE LVNNE 1608”. However, the church was built in 1883. So where was the altar for the first 275 years?
Parish Priest The Revd. Lesley Crawley said:
“I was absolutely amazed to find that we had something so ancient in the Parish. It is a real treasure to have an ancient Altar, but we are all mystified as to where it came from. We’d love to know. Our church documents say it came from Waverley Abbey, but that can’t be right because the Abbey was closed in 1536 as part of King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries.”
If you would like to see the altar then the church is open on Thursdays between 10am and midday for “Drop-In Coffee” and the Sunday Service is 11am for 45minutes followed by coffee so you take a look while you drink your cuppa. Otherwise contact the Revd Lesley Crawley on 01252 820537 revdlesley@gmail.com.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 
I always felt it was a shame that it was covered up with a frontal and not simply left as a table with a linen cloth. And I was sad that people had stuck drawing pins into it.