Today we are going to jump in the Tardis and go back in time to the 15th century to a church in a village called Woodeaton. Now I happened to be in Oxford again after looking at the map and spotting a couple of likely villages to Visit I looked them up on Wikipedia. Woodeaton was the first one I looked up and the page had photos from this church (which do not do it justice) so I was sold straight away so it was a must to go and visit. I have shown a lot of photos so I hope you enjoy my offering now go get a coffee, sit down and enjoy its quite long.
I took this from the gate with a wide angle lens, hence the distortion.
A grass path leads through the churchyard
Taking you to this wonderful little porch
A clearer view of the church
and a view of the North side of the church
Not seen a clock like this in a while, as you can guess it was a late addition being as the tower was built in the 14th or 15th century and the clock added in the 1700's
Not far away you can see this preaching cross on the village green which is 13th century
How about this for a welcome as you walk in the porch
Anyway lets go in and go back in time. Walk through the door and this is what you see.
A stone font graces the back of the nave
with home made produce for sale
How about these pews complete with little doors to them.
The walls are paneled and lined with a kneelers which were made by a couple of local ladys.
How about this for a nave with chancel arch and rood screen on the right is a wonderful carved pulpit, though the screened area on the right has me puzzled
Through the rood screen takes you to the chancel
where you can see this simple but beautiful altar
with a wonderful floral display
Turn round and you can see the rood screed and choir pews
The pews have some wonderful carved ends on them
The rood screen is 15th or 16th century built into the 13th century chancel arch
Around the nave walls you can see these heraldic hatchments
On the nave wall is a memorial to Trooper Albert Woodcock
These memorials can be seen the nave & chancel
If you look down you can see many of these memorials in the floor dating back to 1673
At the west end of the nave is this gallery which was locked off so I could not go up to get a photo from it
Turn round and look up at the chancel arch, either side are heraldic hatchments and above you can see medieval wall paintings
Which can also be seen at the west end of the nave
Outside take some time looking round the churchyard and the church
Where you can see this sundial and if you look a long blocked up doorway
The south side by the porch are many old grave
And a few not so old
but it is worth the effort of spending some time in
The lichen clings to the stone after the words have gone while algae starts to cover another
Have a Peaceful Sunday.
Taking part in Taphophile Tragics & Cemetery Sunday
42 comments:
what an odd place for the clock ... off center like that. i wonder why they placed it there? i love that they are selling home made goodies - that makes me wish for some for myself. ( :
Normally they tend to put them over the vent but the it was placed there is the 1700's Not sure I've come across home produce in a church before.
This looks like a really stunning church, Bill, and a real feeling for a bit of British history. It is also a fabulous post - you can almost smell the place! Is that tower as bent as it looks?!
I picked a good week to come back to InSPIREd Sunday! Your post and pictures are fabulous. Thank you so much for taking the trip out to share this with us.
Hi Bill -- What a truly amazing post. We love visiting old churches and graveyards eveywhere we travel - especially when we travel to your side of the world. These photos are amazing --you have taken us on an amazing tour!
It was so nice of you to stop by my little blog this afternoon -- the covered bridges experience truly was amazing~
Vicki
Beautiful! I love seeing all these old churches & cemeteries that you post - I've never seen anything like those here in the US.
I'm sure you would like to visit it the place if you were down this way, it's about 6 miles from Oxford
Glad you dropped by Sally look round some of the Archive there are a few like this you can see.
I would love to see the covered bridges but I doubt I ever will but your blog show them to me wonderfully
Nor will you, most of the churches in the UK are older than the US, thats not to say you don't have nice churches,
It's nice to see how people try to keep the place alive with flowers and all. Very special...
Hope you'll have a great week Bill!
http://dzjiedzjee.blogspot.com
What an amazing little gem. I love churches like this. Wonderful pictures, as usual.
Thank you for linking up with Cemetery Sunday
Beneath Thy Feet
«Louis» looks forward to your posts, Bill. He thoroughly enjoys the detail you include.
He is always surprised - though he should be accustomed to it by now - at how many of your churches have their rood screens intact. Rood screens are very rare in the U.S. - and only one church in Paris (to give another example), St.Etienne-du-mont, has a surviving rood screen.
«Louis'» post today is Grace Cathedral, San Francisco along with the odyssey of Thomas Tallis' Third Mode Theme from chant tone to hymn to fantasia.
That's quite an unusual church. Very simple but not without a rustic beauty.
I love this- the wall painting looks similar to the one in Pickering- St Christopher I think- was it opposite the entrance? I love the font being used for sales of jam. I used to live in Oxfordshire but never visited this church, thank you so much for all the pictures. My Earl Grey was the perfect beverage to drink whilst reading.
Wow - love this little church. Such interesting details on the inside.
Liz
I notice that at a lot of church's, they always have fresh flowers
So do I Nicola, I'm always amazed what is around near where I live
They seem to be in quite few churches I have visited but I am still to find one with a rood loft
Can't argue there, though I have come across many old churches this one was quite unique as I have never seen the like before
Well I have not come across it before and wonder if it is because the are is prone to floodding
It has Liz and I'm not ruling out a revisit
This church has such a lot of interesting stuff. You are right. What a find. I love the general appearance of it. Sometimes I think churches and old pubs are the only places you get a feeling of real antiquity these days, people are so desperate to rip out the old stuff and put in wood floors and fancy appliances in their homes. One of the saddest things I saw architecturlly was a lovely old farmhouse with all the insides ripped out and replaced with something that seemed to have come straight from a magazine on interior design. Luckily such things do not happen so often with churches, these days.
Well to make a long story short I enjoyed this VERY much :)
I enjoyed this church tour very much. I love old churches and graveyards for the history and architecture. Wonderful post!
I have seen a lot of "Reordered Churches" and though they look nice I feel the soul has been ripped out of them
Thank you Deb, I was worried it would put people off
Must admit is one of the reasons I visit them
great tour
Thank you Mo
You did a thorough job of covering the church and its setting. I'm glad you were able to go there and did not have to rely on the wikipedia pictures. Well done.
The floral arrangements are very prettty and cheerful. The simple alter- beautiful, I like the angle of the last picture of the cross with the pretty blooms at the foot.
Thank you Don, I never use Wikipedia photos unless they are mine
I love primroses so had to get a photo, I'll use it on Wordless Wednesday
Faaaaaaaabulous post Bill.. Gosh I'm so glad I invested in a Nespresso coffee maker last week, this was definitely worthy of a really good cup of coffee :) one thing that is very clear about this little beauty is that it is obviously well loved by the villagers.. the fresh flowers, the hand sewn kneelers.. so many little touches. You really are lucky with these incredibly old and beautiful cemeteries to explore, love that you share!
These gems have a way of popping up and I just have to visit them. This was I think the best yet but I may have now come across another near Wantage which I will be visiting as soon as I get the Chance. The Kneelers are a common thing here usually done by the local WI, these apear to have been done by a couple of local women.
A beautiful, historic old church - much older than ours. Although ours, which was built in 1826, is the oldest one on the Island. We used to have doors on our pews too but they were changed a number of years ago. Thanks for sharing!
England is such a beautiful country. I hope that I get to go there one day *sigh*
Lovely photos!
Bill, what a lovely find! And so many details to look at! Thanks, as always, for sharing on Taphophile Tragics. :)
Wonderful shots, Bill. It's a beautiful church, particularly inside.
I lived in Woodeaton for two years as a child (1960s). Your post is excellent and brought back many memories. We used to play among the gravestones making up all manner of stories. I remember the little rock wall we made a game of jumping off, too. Sadly, I don’t remember ever going in for a service so it was lovely to peruse your photos. Thank you
It's a nice church and must have been the first I came across with box pews. I have stopped off here a few times it is such a peaceful place
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