Old Bix Church

The church is called St James and is situated in a valley called Bix Bottom about a mile or so from Bix Village. The church is an old Norman one and you can still see the Norman Lancet Windows. When seeing it first I wondered why it was so far away from the village but on reading up it was situated in a village called Bix Brand the village at the top of the hill being called Bix Gibwyn. I think Bix Brand must have dwindled as they built a new church with the same name in Bix at the top of the hill in 1874. The church in Bix Bottom was abandoned in 1875 since then it has gradually deteriorated to the state it is now. In 1975 it was used in a horror film called Blood on Satan's Claw, If you look on YouTube you can find the Video

  This is the view you get of the church as you walk through what is the entrance to the place. If you look at the opening scene of the film you can see the church through the trees

The church as you get nearer to it still retaining it's Norman Look.

Got to admit I was very surprised to see a couple of graves here and there is writing on them which I need to try and make out what is said on them.

 

This is what the inside looks like. I would love to have seen it when it was in use.
This and be seen Various scenes from the film.

Ok one of my daily blog photos you might remember. Snowdrops growing in the nave.

This is looking through the chancel arch to the chancel which you can see is small by comparison with other churches but when it was built first I doubt there were that many people to cram in the church so there would not have been a choir in here.

The small window I presume is the lancet one the lager on the right is the chancel window.

To the left you can see what passes as the chancel arch and on the right is the entrance doorway which s missing the keystone and has a huge crack running upwards

Viewed from the outside the building is covered in ivy which is slowly braking it apart.

 

 This view is taken from the west end wall which is just a pile of rubble now

This is looking at the church from the far corner of what I presume was the churchyard.

The south side showing the ivy clutching the walls.

Not long after I took the photos the place was closed off with safety fencing because of the dangerous state of the ruin. The ruin was repaired and reopened I returned in October 2021 for some new photos. The brickwork you can see here on the left was part of the low buttresses built to shore the walls up in the 1700's

Going around to the south east side of the site you can see the building is in much better condition and the huge crack that was above the east window now repaired

 

The north side looks as though little has changed

 

This is looking down the nave to the chancel arch with the niches either side

Though the chancel arch to the east window. I'm glad the ruin has bee repaired somewhat so people can still enjoy it

The entrance to the site had been planted with shrubs which have grown up in the time since I was last there and you can also see this display before you go in telling you about the church

In 1874 a new church was built in the village of Bix which I stopped off to look at but was locked when at the time when I took the photo  I have since revisited and will be writing a blog on that church

The map shows you where old Bix church is. If your out for a walk round the area it is worth stopping off to look at and is a nice place to stop off for a picnic. Hope you have enjoyed the blog.