2022 Review Pt2

This week the Church Explorer  concludes his review of the Churches I visited in 2022 I might add the first five churches are all revisits of ones that were locked because of the epidemic from 2021 that I had forgotten to post

We start July with a revisit to All Saints Goosey which was one of the more simple churches I visited and one you could be at peace in.

Not far away was another church I visited the same day St Denny in Stanford in the Vale, this was a church I really wanted to visit sooner but with all the covid restrictions I had to check when I was going to be open. It was well worth visiting.

St James the great Denchworth was the church |I really wanted to visit most as it looked really interesting from the outside and was inside as well.

St Giles Horsepath I needed to arrange to be opened and it did not disappoint when |I did get inside to look around.

The month ended with a visit to St Mary & St Nicholas Littlemore after I finally found when the church would be open. It was a very interesting visit with a chat to some of the local parishioners who were in there having coffee.

August started with a visit to St James Cowley, as very old church in a bust part of Oxford which seemed very out of place. Unfortunately it was locked so I would have to arrange to revisit

St James Sevenhampton was the first of a series of churches I visited on a hot day around Swindon. It was also where you could see the grave of Ian Fleming.

St Andrews Shrivenham took me back in to Oxfordshire just over the boarder form Wiltshire. The church was in a huge churchyard off the market square and worth visiting

St James Bourton was the last church visited in August and though a very nice church turned out to be Victorian with little history to it

September started with return visit to St James Cowley so split my epic visit to Wiltshire but I felt it needed to be shown. It was a tranquil church in Oxford worth looking around

We were back in Wiltshire again with St Mary Bishopstone  which I thought was a grand looking church both inside and out

St Swithun Hinton Pava I felt was the best church of the day to visit, I could have stayed there a while sitting taking in the peacefulness of it. Apart from the swarming bees I encountered I thought it was a wonderful church

If  St Swithun was the best of the day the St Andrew Wanborough I felt was the let down because it was locked. The bonus for visiting was it had two spires

I started October with the last of my Wiltshire churches at St Mary South Marston  a few miles from Swindon and it finished the day of nicely 

We were back on Oxford for the next two churches the first being St Mary & St John along the Cowley Road in Oxford. This was my second visit as I had arranged to go inside to look around escorted by the Vicar 

I had visited the previous church a few  weeks previously and had been told about St Bartholomews Chapel by the vicar who by chance I bumped into on my was to the chapel, he was kind enough to let me in. It was hard to believe the place was in such a busy part of Oxford it was so peaceful. It's worth visiting if you get a chance.

I have written a blog on  St Matthew Llanewedd many years ago but with not photos of the inside because I always found it locked. This was a chance visit where I found the church open and full of angles and very nice Vicar who scared the life out of me when she said hello

St Annos Llanano  I visited after finding it on Historians Website. I had to see the stunning rood screen in the church. It's one of those must visit churches 

In November I went to St Mary Abbey Cwmhir not that far from the previous church. Though it was Victorian I felt it a church with visiting  along with the Abbey Ruins along the road from the church.

After Reading a comment on the blog I had written on St Lawrence Reading I emailed the office and arranged a visit to look around the inside of the church which I showed in this blog. I only felt a little disappointed by the fact it had been reordered in such a way.

For my next visit I showed St Cynllo Nantmel just off the A44 on a hillside. I church in a beautifully kept churchyard, unfortunately for me it was locked.

Caebach Chaple. I found out about form the groundsman on my visit to the previous church, I stopped here on the way back, it was worth stopping off to view and even though it was looked you could see through the windows inside.

In December we were back in Oxfordshire to visit The Holy Cross Shipton-on-Cherwell on a frosty morning 

A short walk away across the fields was St Giles Hampton Gay which sat along in a filed by the ruined manor house outside the houses that comprise the village. This I found locked which was a pity

Finding  St Giles Church locked in from my last visit was soon remedied  as I managed to look around inside on my next blog and it ended the year of nicely.

I hope you enjoyed my blogs last year because this year I hope to visit more and will be revisiting more next year as well as making new visits. I do intend to go to a few more in Wales when I get back there in a few months and hope to visit more in Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Till Next time Take Care and have a peaceful weekend.