St Peter Drayton

St Peters is a church I have passed by many times as it lies off the road going through Drayton from Sutton Courtneay. I found out a local guy had one the Victoria Cross in World War one had come from the village and a few weeks ago I had  a chance to go along and visit. I will be doing this blog in two parts with the inside next week. Some history from Wikipedia.
"The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter are Norman, built about AD 1200. The Perpendicular Gothic west tower and four-bay north aisle were added in the 15th century.
The south transept was rebuilt about 1855 and the chancel was rebuilt in 1872. In 1879 the church was restored and south porch added, both to designs by the Gothic Revival architect Edwin Dolby.
St Peter's was restored again in 1959 after it was damaged by fire. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Drayton Baptist Church

The tower has a ring of eight bells. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast a ring of six for the tower in 1871. The same founders added the present treble and tenor bells in 1880, increasing the ring to eight. There is also a sanctus bell that one of the Wells family of bellfounders of Aldbourne, Wiltshire, cast in about 1780.^"

The church is along Church Lane and this is the view you get when walking along the road

The Lych Gate is a memorial to the dead of the Two World Wars

As you walk in you see this paving slab to Sergeant Edward Mott who won the Victorian Cross in January 1917

Going around to the South side of the church shows it's heritage

Along the south side this chapel juts out

the East end with the North Aisle

Back to the west end and the North Aisle which is not so easy to see with the sun back lighting it

The West end from in the Churchyard extension

The reason you cannot see the whole of the North side is because of this new parish office

The porch on the South Side

Interesting to see the rain spouts, this one looks like the Green Man

While this guy looks like he is holding onto some animal

View along the churchyard on the South Side

a memorial in the shape of a preaching cross. Left a couple of headstones beside the chapel wall

The churchyard along the east end of the church

Above looking back  along the South side. Left the new village cemetery at the back of the churchyard

This is looked after by the Parish Council

The older part by the church it seems

The East end again

Above an ivy & moss covered tomb.
Left into the churchyard extension across the road

An unusual memorial looking like a tree, with name plaques on it.
Right the extension had a lot of older graves in in

Under the Yew Tree a fenced family Vault

You can see the War Grave of Private C.E.Chainey who died aged 18. Right an interesting memorial to the Clark Family

Above an old wooden cross with the church in the background.
Right the beside the church you can see these head & footstones

Along with more headstones with the cross cut out in them

Above the Head & Footstones.

Left another water spout

Green Man again

I'll leave you with this view  down the South side of the church

and bid you a wonderful weekend

Holy Trinity Theale

I had been visiting Pillboxes along  River Kennet number of years ago when I passed this church on the way home so I stopped off for a few photo's. Unfortunately the church was locked at the time and I have not had a chance to return since. Some history via Wikipedia
"
The parish church is Anglican, and is dedicated to the Holy T rinity. Designed by Edward Garbet, the church was consecrated on 21 August 1832 by the Bishop of Salisbury; it had taken about 15 years to build. The benefactor was Dr Sheppard's wife Sophia, who donated £39,000 for the building of a church, rectory and school, though other sources state that the donation was closer to £50,000. Dr Sheppard had died in 1814 and wished a new church to be built to replace the earlier building. Sophia was supported in the founding of the church by her brother, Martin Routh.
The church, especially the western façade and the buttresses, bears resemblance to Salisbury Cathedral. Nikolaus Pevsner wrote that the church is modelled on the cathedral. In 1833, John Claudius Loudon described the body of the church as "satisfactory" and said that "the tower, and all the turrets, and terminations to the buttresses, are too short". The steeple is positioned to the south-east of the nave, with suggestions that its building was an afterthought. John Buckler built the tower between 1827 and 1828, with suggestions that he modelled the building on Salisbury's bell tower – demolished about 30 years previously – though little artistic and architectural evidence supports this.
Previous rectors and curates at the church include Martin Routh and Edward Ellerton.
The church has been compared to the now-demolished church of St George in Newtown, Birmingham, due to the designers' use of existing architecture, rather than "forcing [...] their own inventions".

Organ

The church's original organ had a single manual and was built by R. W. Rouse of Somerton, Oxfordshire. It was restored in 1933 by G. H. Foskett of London, with funds donated by the Blatch family. The restoration saw the organ moved from its original position in the church's west end to the nave, with preservation of the pipes. A second restoration was undertaken by Richard Bower of Weston Longville. ^"

 

Looking across the churchyard towards the West end

Above and left the west end and one of the entrances to the church

Unusual the belltower is on the south side with an arch taking you through the tower

Outside the churchyard and the tower with drive leading towards the East end

The Village War Memorial with wreaths left from the Remembrance day service

Looking up at the clock in the tower, right the other side of the Arch that leads through the tower

The North side of the church and churchyard

Some of the Victorian cast rain pipes on the side of the church

The church notice board though at the time I found it unusual that it was in the Diocese of Oxford being the village in in West Berkshire

More of the north side and what is most likely the vestry on the side

I'll leave you with this view towards the west end of the church

If I get a chance to I will return to the church again sometime and try to take photos inside