A History and Guide to St Michael’s Church, Shute
Dr Bijan Omrani, PhD FSA, Historian and Churchwarden of St Michael’s Church, Shute, has written a staggering 40-page history of the Church and Parish of Shute, along with the chapel of ease of St Mary’s at the Cross, Whitford.
From the Romans to the Tudors, to modern day, this document has absolutely everything. We have included the first three pages below as a sample:
Page 2 
Page 3
The author, Dr Bijan Omrani commented:
“Writing the history of Shute Church has been an extraordinary journey. The detective work included hunting through many archives, struggling with ancient documents (sometimes in Latin), and poring over every inch of the church building itself. The discoveries have been amazing. In the shade of our little out-of-the-way church there have been the visits of kings and the lives of great magnates. The richest woman in Medieval England, Cecily Bonville, was baptised and lived here, as did Elizabeth Pole, the first woman to found a town in the New World. At the same time, the research has unearthed much of the daily lives, devotion, joy, and sometimes suffering of generations of parishioners of every social station. I hope that this new guide I have written will remind people how 800 years of extraordinary history are here, on their doorstep, in their parish church. I also hope that it will remind them that here too, in this place cherished over hundreds of years, many have come to worship, grieve, celebrate, and contemplate. There is a fellowship and community with those of the past, as well as those of times to come, and I hope that this guide will prompt people to remember this, feel a part of it, and even be comforted by it, here in a place where, since time out of hand, ‘prayer has been valid’.”
To purchase a copy of this research, contact Bijan or visit the church.