St Botoph Swyncome

 Walk along the Ridgeway path through Oxfordshire and you will pass through a small place called Swyncome and pass by a small 11th century church called St Botoph

The church is set back off a country road beside Swyncome House.

I came here to find a war grave I had heard about but was taken back by the setting the church was in.

The churchyard did have a lot of headstones in it which looked old. People had just come out of the church after the Sunday service so I took the opportunity to go inside for some photos.

On entering the church you will be greeted with this view 

Going through the rood screen you will see the Chancel

Looking back from the rood screen along the nave.

Here you can see the curved wall and ceiling which are painted.

You can see some stunning stained glass widows and memorials to past rectors of the church.

A superb carving on one of the choir stalls in the chancel

and if you look by the window nearby you can see a photo of the church before the rood screen was built.

Back in the nave I was shown this window which was in memory of  Alfred Taylor and his wife Lizzie

If you look at the back wall of the nave, high up you can see a window with some very old stained glass in.

You can see the stone font at the back and displays of flowers as well

In the porch you can see this bequeath and plaque.

Outside the churchyard is well kept

With the odd headstone slowly sinking out of site 

Some headstones are being snagged by ivy

some getting covered in lichen

You can even find some old ones in very good condition

Some others lost in ivy

But it's worth a wander round looking a the inscriptions.

The headstone I came to visit is to Sergeant J.H.Barnett buried at St Botolph Swyncome.  He was at 19 OTU (operational training unit) RAF Kinloss. The OTUs were the places that men went to after they had qualified in there particular category, pilot, navigator, wireless operator/air gunner, to form up into crews before they went operational to a particular squadron. Jack was the rear gunner of A/W Whitley V serial no. AD710 piloted by Flight Sergeant J E Williams DFM. They took off from Kinloss on a night exercise and flew into a violent electrical storm and it is believed that the aircraft was struck by lightning. Two members of the crew managed to bale out before the aircraft smashed into the ground near Dalcross, Inverness-shire at 00.55. The pilot and other four members of the crew including Jack, perished. His body was returned to Swyncombe for burial. 

 RIP. His name is listed on the Memorial on Cooley Green not far away.

Since writing this post I have been given some more information about Sergeant J.H.Barnett who is buried near the East end of the church, seems the information I read was wrong. I have updated this. My Thanks to Mike Willoughby for the info