St Nicholas Forest Hill

 

I will start this years Church Explorer off  with the last two visits from last year. The first one is St Nicholas Forest Hill. I only noticed this church while checking to see if I had missed any in the smaller villages in the areas I had visited. The previous church I visited this day was at Horton-cum-Studley and after going around it I stopped on my way back from Oxford and noticed that Forest Hill was not far away and the church was easy to reach, finding somewhere to park was another matter as the church is on a hill by the road. Some history of Wikipedia :-

"The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas the Confessor may have begun as a chapel, but by 1341 Forest Hill was a separate parish and St Nicholas' was being referred to as an ecclesia parochialis ("parish church"). It was given to Osney Abbey in about 1140. When the de Lacy manor was granted to Cardinal Wolsey in 1526, St Nicholas' church was included. Thereafter the advowson of the parish remained with whoever owned the manor. In 1807 Lincoln College, Oxford bought the estate, including the manor house and St Nicholas' church. St Nicholas' church building is Norman, and the 12th century chancel arch is probably original.

The church was rebuilt in the 13th century in the transitional style from Norman architecture to the Early English Gothic style: the lancet windows on both sides of the chancel and the gabled bellcote at the west end of the nave date from this rebuilding. Later the present west window was added in the Perpendicular Gothic style. In the same period a south porch was built. Its inner door is Perpendicular, but the outer is transitional between Norman and Early English and has been re-set, presumably from where the Perpendicular doorway is now. In 1639 buttresses were built against the west wall to support the bellcote. The bellcote has two bells, cast in 1652.

In 1847 the architect James Cranston restored the chancel. The Oxford architectural writer and publisher J.H. Parker designed the east window of three traceried lancets. In 1852 the Gothic Revival architect George Gilbert Scott restored the nave and added the organ chamber and north aisle, re-setting the original transitional style north doorway in the new wall. A Sanctus bell was cast and hung at the same time as the restoration. A Wesleyan congregation was established in Forest Hill in the 19th century. It originally had a wooden chapel, but in 1898 opened a new brick-built one.^"

 

 ^{As you can see the church stands beside a road on a hill, admittedly it is behind a wall}

 

First part of the church after entering the gate

 

^{Walk along the path and you come to the porch}

 

The east end which you pass on the way in

 

 

Go around the north side and you find this extension

 

 

Looking towards the north side from the west end

 

The west end and the bells above

 

 

Walking over to the sough you can see the huge buttresses that dominate the west end

 

 The porch which is open for visitors

 

The North east end showing the graves there

The south east corner of the churchyard

 

Along the boundary wall you find headstones standing against it

 

A tomb but the boundary hedge at the west end

 

A gate between a headstone and tomb most likely takes you to a former rectroy

 

 

These tombs are beside the church at the north west end

 

Looking west along the north side

 

Looking across the east end

In the church looking down the nave

This beautiful candelabra really stands out in the church

Over the chancel arch is verse from the bible

 

This is a stitch photo showing the three arches in the north of the nave

 

I had turned the lights on and it washed the photo a bit

 

The chancel arch looks as though it dates back to the 11th century

 

In the chancel looking at the altar and east windows

The east windows

 

The altar cross

Over on the north side of the chancel you see this memorial

 

The inscription 

 

Underneath another which is fading

 

Looking wast through the chancel arch

 

Over to the left a small arch takes you to the pulpit

 

Two stone seats in the chancel

 

These candle holders supported by angels

are on either side of the altar

You come out on the pulpit through a small arch in the chancel

Look down into the church

 

Small lancet window

 

closer view

 

the windows in the nave are all like this

 

with different scenes in them

 

The windows all look stunning sand are dedicated to some person

 

The good shepherd 

The Madonna and child beside a stained glass window

Memorial to Grace  Isabella 

 Stanier memorials

 

Memorial to the millar family

 

Second Miller Memorial 

 

Two more miller memorials, they are all buried along the road in a separate village cemetery

 

Forest Hill Roll of Honour

 

Those who served are listed with crosses marking those who died

 

The church font

 

The organ

 

I will leave you this week with a view of the advent candles with the chancel behind

Till Next time Stay safe and have a peaceful weekend