Saturday 23 November 2019

St Deny's Northmoor



This week we visit the first of three churches in West Oxfordshire near Witney. They were not on my list of churches to visit but after seening some photo's I made the the next on the list. The first church is St Denny Northmoor which is not far from the River Thames of Isis to give it the correct name.
Some history of Wikipedia
"In 1059 King Edward the Confessor granted land at Northmoor to St Denis Abbey in Paris. Northmoor was made a separate parish in the 12th century, and the parish church of Saint Denys was then built. Nothing survives of this original building except the font, which is Norman.
The earliest part of the present Church of England parish church on the same site is the Early English Gothic chancel, which was built in the 13th century. The chancel's east window is a set of three lancets and it has another lancet in its south wall. The present nave and north and south transepts were built early in the 14th century. The bell tower over the west bay of the nave was added in the 15th century. The tower has a ring of six bells. Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester cast the fifth bell in 1714, and Thomas Rudhall cast all the others in 1764.
The Gothic Revival architect C.C. Rolfe carried out a sensitive restoration of building in 1887. St Denys' is now a Grade I listed building."
There is an indepth history on Britain Express








Left the path leading to St Denny








Walking around the West end you can see the tower integral to the church













The North side looking towards the North Transept






Couple of memorials beside one of the North windows






Right an old porch going to the church now unused
Left the East end with memorial on the wall














Looking towards the North Transept






Above the East end window with Left the South East side




South view showing the South Transept





Above the South Transept with Left the Door leading to the church












From the passage leading to the Aisle you look down the nave
Right the Nave from the back of the church















Left and Right the chancel showing the East window and Altar













Above the East window
From the chancel you look back at the Loft which is made from the old rood screen.




I took some photo's with my iPhone to see how they came out 




The idea being I could quickly take photo's in a church if I did not have my DSLR





I was quite pleased with the outcome
especially when I managed to crop this part of the loft out, it will save me returning for another photo









Left one of the two sets of choir stalls
Right the chancel towards the arch










Above the pulpit with a tasteful jug of grass in front
View of the nave from the pulpit
Above the Roll of Honour from the first and second World Wars



On the left side of the Roll is another showing three RAF personnel who died. They are buried in different cemetery's in the UK, I wonder if they were personnel from RAF Stanton Harcourt


Above the old North doorway now blocked up







The South Transept has an organ in it


Were as the North is still used




 A board with the Benefactors of the local poor and right the church banner stands in the corner












Along the East wall under the window is an altar
Beside is the Madonna and child indicating this may well be the Lady Chapel, above is a memorial with the inscription long gone






Into the South Transept and walk behind the organ to see a couple of tomb recesses with effigies












Going to see them you walk across the old tombs of people buried here





The Effigy of a knight



With his lady though their identities are unknown

















One of the floor tombs dated 1687














On the West wall are a few memorials though one is partly covered by the organ










But I feel the little gem is this wall painting that dates back to the 13th century




The Sir Edmund Warcupp tomb 1712














Going around the church you can see more things of interest like this altar rail that is beautifully carved




Early English piscina (left) and sedilia






By the Altar are more floor tombs though some are covered by the altar




It hides the names of people buried here
















But looking at the tombs either end I presume the others are from the Playdell family as well







Something you will miss is this old Altar behind the Altar table




Memorial to Jone Nalder and his wife Mary along with I presume his children.

Right a painting of Christ carrying the cross






Another floor tomb beside one of the pillars of the Chancel arch




Couple of the Memorial you can see in the chancel
























A church chest dated 1753







Above the Norman Font which is under the Loft at the back





Outside the churchyard is a good size













which runs all the way around the church






There are a mixture of old and more modern headstones to see




Over to one side like many other churchyards part is left to nature to look after




Looking around to the North side from the East end




Grass grows long here





Not far away you can see well kept graves many here belonging to the same family








Till next time I will leave with this picture of a floral display I noticed near the entrance
May you all have  a wonderful weekend




8 comments:

Linda P said...

Another interesting church with many important features such as the wall painting and the Norman font. The Balder memorial plaque is a sad reminder of how short some people's lives were. Thank you for sharing. Have a good Sunday and week.

Elaine said...

Goodness, so many wonderful things caught my eye. Those enormous wooden beams, for one thing - and I can't ever recall seeing so many exterior wall memorials, are they still legible? The knight and the lady are interesting, but so is the fragment of wall painting and that lovely old chest and the simplicity of the Norman font. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour, thank you!

Jim said...

Great post.

Tom said...

...Bill, a beautiful church filled with details and history. The window and the organ pipes caught my attention. Thanks for sharing.

William Kendall said...

You can feel the history here.

Aimz said...

hmm I'm interested to know the age of the old porch, it looks older than the rest of the church and who are the memorials to.

Sandra said...

Hello I would like to use your image of the Nalder family tablet in a family history I'm putting together (not for commercial publication). Would that be possible? I couldn't see any way to contact you other than leaving a comment. Best wishes, Sandra

Billy Blue Eyes said...

There is a contact form below