Saturday 26 October 2019

The Holy Ascension Littleworth


This was the first of the four churches I visited from the recent blogs I have written and I asked if it could be opened for me to get some photos. I found it was on arrival so got on with taking some pictures for you. The history I found on Wikipedia is short but tells enough
The Church of England parish church of The Holy Ascension has been on the same site since the 12th century. However, the present building was designed by HJ Underwood of Oxford and built on the original Norman foundations in 1839. Its chancel was rebuilt in 1876. The church is a Grade II listed building.







From the roadside the church is visible between the trees






The double gate here opened out to the path leading to the church




You pass qute a few graves




Around the North side of the church





The East end with a single cross in the centre

Right Back around looking along the South side





The chancel end with Priest door

The West end from over in the carpark which I suspect was the old school playground at one time
The West end with the porch that takes you to the church
in the entrance to the church inside the porch you will find a verse around it
Inside you look down the aisle to the chancel arch
Further on through the arch is the chancel




Inside choir stalls and the altar











Looking back to  the entrance at the back





One of the choir stalls on the South side of the chancel






On the sill behind the altar is a very simple wood cross, while over the priest door is the Roll of Honour








The back of the church with the Organ over on the South side







One side of the chancel arch you can see the these enamelled  tin plaques while the other is the pulpit with sounding board







View from the pulpit along the nave






There are only a couple of windows with stained glass the right hand one is the central East window while the one to the left is in the chancel







This painting is in the nave






The church chest looks like it is a little older than the church
The Font with nice floral display





Outside the churchyard has a few headstones scattered around





Most seem to be on the West end of the churchyard




The North side has the odd one




You will find some more recent ones





Some family graves
Looking across towards the South side of the church from the East end
This seat is just inside the East side entrance






Above the single angel you can see in the churchyard.
Right the South side churchyard





Looking West across the South of the church






North on the West end of the church
The headstone of Private T.J.Horne

A last look of the Holy Ascension Church and churchyard
Till Next time have a great weekend
Dedicated to the memory of Cliff who I used to work with and passed away peacefully in his sleep the other night, Cliff was a bell ringer of local renowned at St Andrews East Hagbourne
RIP


Saturday 19 October 2019

St Mary the Virgin Longcot



Longcot is not far from Faringdon and a short way from the A420, you could easily pass by but you would be missing a beautiful little church.
"The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin has a 13th-century Norman nave and chancel. One lancet window on the north side of the chancel is original but all other the current windows were inserted later. On the north side of the church they include one two-light Decorated Gothic and one four-light Perpendicular Gothic window. The pulpit is Jacobean.
The tower was rebuilt in 1721 or 1722. Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester cast five new bells in 1722, followed by the treble bell in 1729 to complete a ring of six.
St Mary's is now part of the Church of England Benefice of Shrivenham and Ashbury, which also includes Bourton, Compton Beauchamp, Fernham and Watchfield".

On going through the main gate you see the village war memorial near the path leading to the church






Above the East end of the church with the South East view here on the left




Here we look over at the South side of the church





Another South side view with the belltower







Couple more views of the West end showing the Bell Tower












The porch taking you into the church
Where you pass this little display on your way in





On entry to the church you can look down the nave towards the Chancel





The altar dressed looking very simple with a beautiful floral display nearby
Behind the altar the East window letting in light

Looking down the nave from the back of the church
The chancel with choir stalls either side























The Jacobean pulpit






Above looking from the pulpit
Right looking to the back from the centre of the church





The other way to the chancel arch
The organ looks quite modern













Above the organ
Right looking over towards one of  the South windows














Above a memorial plaque to a couple who died on the Titanic

Left the floor has a lot of tomes let into it



The stones that are let in the floor are shaped like headstones






There are a couple of memorials on the walls of the church













But I fell the one that stands out most is this one to Earnest Courtney Carter and his wife Lilian who died when the Titanic sank





The plaque telling you the story of how it came to Loncote and a close up of the couple










Another shot of the pulpit


























The stained glass around the church the top two are small and either side of the chancel arch


The one on the right is more modern and near the sill you can see a bust





The bust is of a local Ted Ball who seemed to have been quite a character





The windows were all dressed with displays
Above the East window behind the altar
























Left the floral display near the altar and a Doll which is part of the window display






The displays were part of the Harvest Festival






This one with flowers was using a watering can





Baskets of vegetables and fruit
On the font another floral display





Outside a walk around the churchyard showed that the older headstones were near the church on the North side





As you went further East the headstone were more modern













Looking towards the North side of the church across the churchyard










Looking West over the more modern headstones





The path from the east end gate in the churchyard




This monument was on the South side of the church





The monument from the look of the carving was quite modern though I did not read the plaque attached to it

Left the headstones here are near the West end




The churchyard near the west end of the church




The West end headstone are a mixture of old and more modern




Some of the older headstone on the North side






Looking East along the Northside with a
tomb in the foreground
Monument near the porch in the church
Last look of the South side of St Mary the Virgin
I will leave you with this shot of the War memorial with the church behind
Till Next time I wish you all Peaceful week