2026 update

 

I thought I would give an update on my church crawls. Since the beginning of the year I have struggled a bit nearly running out of churches to visit which was more down to my state of mind than any thing else. Having visited well over half the churches in Oxfordshire I was loosing steam about visiting the others in north Oxfordhire no doubt I will get around to it. I have been heading over to Buckinghamshire where I have done very few as it is nearer that the ones in north Oxfordshire. I have also been revisiting some of the local ones I visited many years ago & I felt needed doing again, there are quite a lot I am not happy with the photos I took. Oxford itself still has more to give as well. The other week I went down to our caravan in Wales for a few days with the intention of visiting 10 churches I had wanted to see. In the end I wet to eleven and missed one because after the first day I was so tired at the end and because it was raining I gave up. The churches I visited are:-

St Martin, Cwmyoy, Dore Abbey, St John the Baptist, Newton, St Faith, Bacton, St Margaret.St Peter, Wormbridge, St Mary & St David, Kilpeck, St Nicholas, Grosmont, St Mary Eardisly and finally St James, Kinnersley. After that I went to Bedwardine to get a photo of the grave of Kiverts wife to finish off that story.  The last church on the first day was Garaway which I will get to on another date. St John, Newton I went to by mistake as I was trying to get to St Margaret and went the wrong way,  I did stop for a few photos. St Faith Bacton was not on my list but so near when I drove through I just has to visit. St Peter Wormbridge came about because I stopped beside to check the map on my phone (I don't like to rely on GPS I like to know where I am going) it so it was rude not to look as it was the place was locked so I will be blogging those two together.

That's what you have to look forward to over the next few weeks and during that time I will be out bothering the odd church or two

Have a great week

 

St Margaret of Antioch Harpsden

 

 This week The Church Explorer heads back into South Oxfordshire from Buckinghamshire where he was last week but then it was just a matter of driving back through Henley-on-Thames to get there. St Margaret of Antioch has been on my radar for a while but I missed out visiting due to the road being shut in the direction I had come. This time I came more direct. 

The Church of England parish church of Saint Margaret was originally late Norman, as evidenced by the piscina, font and a blocked doorway that survive from this period.The current windows in the nave and chancel were inserted in the 14th century, and a stone effigy of a knight dates from the same period. In 1848–54 the Gothic Revival architect Benjamin Ferrey lengthened the nave and added the north aisle and tower. In 1879 the architect Henry Woodyer restored the chancel.

From the road it does look a very pleasant church

West end looking towards the tower off to the left

North east aspect of the church

Coming around to show more of the bell tower

South side of the church with the church rooms on the left

I did wonder what this was when I first saw it thinking it may have been a mortuary 

No wrong on that one, it looks like it was a personal Lychgate for the manor behind

 But now converted into a small chapel where you can sit and contemplate 

 South view of the church

 

From the south east

 

Another north east view

Going round to the north west

There was not a large churchyard but at the other end of the village is this lychgate 

That takes you to the cemetery

It's quite full of headstones

Right at the end is the War memorial 

This little reminder of Easter was near the porch

Round the south side a few headstones and tombs

East end of that part of the churchyard

Around the north side even less headstones to see but the near one was different

Inside looking down the nave

Into the chancel

between the choir stalls

Altar and east window

Very nice looking east window

Looking back through the church

Family vault dating back to the 1700's

Tomb recess with effigy

Stoup and chair 

I did like this stained glass window

Not sure what the little cupboard was for

Church brass now on the wall

Tomb of Mary Hampton who died in 1667 age ten from the look

No pulpit shot but I did take one from i

Some of the stained glass windows in the church

West wall of the church

Stained glass window above

Mothers union banner 

Tomb with brass 

This window is beside the pulpit and I found interesting

I've never seen one showing Queen Victoria

The plaque telling to the reason

Brass Roll of Honour

Some of the memorials in the church

North aisle

At the end is the organ

which faces the chancel

The south door takes you to the church office and meeting rooms

Pilgrim marks on the posts were interesting to see

 Carved arch corbel

Couple more church brasses on show

British legion flags

Last of all the font which looks as though it is Norman

Next weeks church may be a day late in Publishing as I am hoping to visit the church for a couple more photos on the Sunday morning 

Till Next time may I wish you all a peaceful week