2025 Review

My review of 2025 where like other years I go through the churches I have visited during the year which is one where I visited more than 50. A year where I managed to finish visiting the Churches in the Book Oxfordshires Best Churches, finished visiting all the churches in the Clerics Trail along a few more, plus revisited a few churches I had been to before, the reason for this is because while writing up an article on Geograph on Oxfordshire Best Churches I noticed some were not quiet as good as now so I went back for new ones. The question is where to go next? I still have the rest of the churches in Oxfordshire to visit and a few more in Wales and Hereford.

January

January usually starts with some of the churches I visited from the previous year and had not yet written up into a blog the first was 

The Holy Trinity Finstock, which I did while taking out a new car for a test drive from the dealer I had taken my car in for a service to. Sadly the church was not open 

St Edburg Bicester was next and took up two blogs. It was a church I had wanted to see for a few years and finally took the plunge in going along, not the best to get to due to heavy traffic in the town but I did get a parking place by the war memorial in the churchyard. I was also invited to go back and be shown around which I might take up sometime

Midweek I did an update on what I was up to this year and have been doing the odd update every so often

 February 

The first church was the second part of St Edburg

Followed by St Mary the Virgin Adderbury this was the first church I visited in 2025 and where I managed to drop my new camera, lucky it did not seem to suffer any harm. The church was amazing to look around

St Mary Bloxham was the next church on the list with it's tall spire and cavernous interior 

 The last church of the month was St Peter-ad-Vincuna in South Newington a must to see the with It's medieval wall art and stained glass remnants 

March 

St Mary the Virgin Broughton came next and was one I had to make arrangements to visit due to it being locked, though when I got there it was open as the parishioners were cleaning the church

I was lucky with St Michael at Barford St Michael  as when I went in the door I found due to some church representatives disusing moving an organ, normally it was open on Wednesday. If you find it locked the porch is worth looking at with it's beak head carvings

St Michael Archangel  is a church I pass when going to or caravan in Wales, this time I stopped off for a look only to find the church locked. I would need to open if I were to return

 

St Cadoc Raglan was along the road home and after visiting the nearby castle years ago I wanted to stop off at the church. It turned out to be an interesting church to look around. I ended going back for a second visit after missing something I wanted to see

St Michal & All Angels Alkerton  I managed to visit will my son was at Banbury Hospital having a scan it was worth the effort visiting

April 

While driving past St Mary Banbury I noticed it was open so asked my son after picking him up him he minded visiting he was ok with this and I say a most stunning interior of a church I had wanted to see for a long time

St John the Baptist Hornton was visited a week or so later as I decided to visit the rest of the churches around Banbury

St Ethelreda  Hollrley was not that far from the last church and that was next and were I was overjoyed to see a rood loft

St Peter Hanwell was visited on another week and turned out to be an interesting church to look around with the carvings on the freeze over the chancel

May

I started this month with St Mary the Virgin Cropredy where the famous music festival is held

I was back in Wales the following week at St Mattew Llandefalle  where I saw a rather nice rood screen

 

I was back on the Oxfordshires best churches trail  the next week in an effort to finish visiting them and went to St Mary the Virgin Chipping Norton it was a vast church to look around and well worth visiting

From there I went to St Michael & All Angeles Great Tew which was on an estate and had some nice Norman features to see and a modern tomb effigy

 

St Philip Little  Rollright was the visited on another week as I finished off the churches in the west of Oxfordshire this was another church on an estate

I gave a midweek update next about what I would be doing with my blog 

June

 

St Andrew Great Rollright came next with it's  beautiful carved Tympanum in the porch

The next church was St Peter Hook Norton which had a beautiful carved Norman font to see.

 

St Mary the Virgin Oxford is a church I would recommend visiting it is stunning to see inside

 

St Michael at the North Gate was the last of the churches I could see in side in my visits of the churches in the Book Oxfordshires Best Churches, I returned in November to visit the tower which was closed on my fist visit

 That concludes the first part of my review for  2025 part 2 will be next week

Till Next  time May I wish you all a peaceful week 

 

St Matthew Harwell

 

I have bee revisiting some of the first churches I went to mainly to update the photos as some are not as good as what I take now. St Matthew Harwell is not far away so as what not. This is the last church I will be publishing this year as next week is Christmas and after that I will be writing up my review of 2025

"The Church of England parish church of Saint Matthew may date from the 11th century. In 1962, The Times reported that walling had been found west of the tower indicating where a former nave had been. The herringbone layering of the masonry suggested that an 11th-century date is likely. At the same time a pewter chalice from about 1200 was found.  The present nave, east of the tower, was built in about 1200.^[4] This second nave has north and south aisles with three-bay arcades. The west tower may have been at the same time, but its Early English Gothic bell openings suggest that it may not have been finished until the middle of the 13th century. The Decorated Gothic chancel is early 14th century and has a five-light east window. The rood screen is probably of the same date, but the screen's Perpendicular Gothic top is later.

The tower has a ring of eight bells. Joseph Carter, who was Master bellfounder at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and also had a foundry at Reading, cast the fourth bell in 1590 and the seventh bell in 1597. William Yare of Reading cast the third and fifth bells in 1611 and the sixth and tenor bells in 1612. John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the treble and second bells in 1932, completing the present ring. St. Matthew's also has a Sanctus bell cast by Robert I Wells of Aldbourne, Wiltshire in the 18th century. There is a single-handed clock on the tower's west face. In 1975, a two-storey extension was built on the north wall which now includes a parish office. A new church hall was built in 1994. St Matthew's parish now shares a rector with the parish of All Saints, Chilton."

Wide view of St Matthew from the churchyard

Looking south west

 From the south west

East end 

From the south east across the churchyard

 

Some old carving on one of the buttresses 

From the north east

From the north west, the extension now holds the church office and meeting rooms 

Path taking you to the offices

By now you might have noticed the lack of headstones in the churchyard, well they line the edges of the paths

Going up near the porch

Headstone lined path from the east entrance

Many of then you can read what is carved

The might be missing a grave but at least this was people are remembered

I think it is a nice way to be remembered rather than the headstone falling down and being forgotten

In the porch 

 

This shocked me a little with the lack of seating

Rather than all the seating like on my first visit the church was open

To put it bluntly it felt a bit barn like

Chancel arch and rood screen

The 14th century `rood screen

From over near the south aisle

In the chancel

Longer view of the chancel

The altar and east window

Simple altar and covering 

Looking back to the chancel arch

I think the chancel is used for some services as the lectern is behind the altar rails 

One side of the rood screen

The back of the rood screen

looking back out to the nave

Pulpit with a nice floral display

View out of the pulpit

 

  These are the carving on either end of the chancel arch

 

 Over in the transept is the organ 

Which fills it up nicely 

This is what and organ looks like form the back

You can also find these tablets there

Looking over to the north transept

From the north to the south

At the back are stairs leading to an office and this is the church from them

Collage of memorials

Sidilia seats 

A stoup from the look of things

Memorial with heads which all look rather miserable even the skull

Memorial to Christopher Smith who was a native of the parish

Floor tomb

Memorial for Elizabeth Bateman 

Some relocated church brasses 

Memorials in the corner

Either side of the east window

Field Marshall Sir P.W.Chedwode if it is the same person in the link I wonder how he had time to be a lay rector 

Memorial to Evelyn Jessie Evans

One to Richard Rice 

The rolls of Honour 

Love the candelabra 

Some lead off the roof with the roofers initials 

This fellow was sat in the window

Corbels and capitals 

some stitch work banners

Looking to the north aisle

And the south aisle

Royal British legion flags and a couple of RAF shields 

Memorial to Pilot Officer Valentine Baker

Norman tub font with cover

Cover on the font

From the door as we go

 

As this is the last blog before Christmas I went back for a photo of the Tree

Which had this lovely Nativity scene underneath

 All that remains is to Wish you all a very Happy Christmas & New year