The Nativity of the Virgin Mary Crowell

 

This was one of those churches I found while checking my Ordnance Survey maps a small cross which is easy to overlook but indicates a place of worship. I visited it the other day along with a couple of other churches which were on my list.

"The Church of England parish church of the Nativity of the Blesséd Virgin Mary is a small flint building.The church existed by the middle of the 12th century and the blocked-up Norman north doorway survives from this time. In the 13th century the chancel arch was rebuilt and the present south doorway was added. In the 14th century the chancel was rebuilt, made taller than the nave and given Decorated Gothic windows. The internal and external fabric of the building were repaired and renewed several times in the 17th and 18th centuries and notably in 1835–39 by one Richard Clark of Wallingford, whose work included renewal of the box pews and three-decker pulpit.

In 1878 the church was largely rebuilt to designs by the architects H.J. Tollit and Edwin Dolby. They re-used the Norman north doorway, 13th-century south doorway, 14th-century piscina, sedilia and chancel arch responds and a low-side window in the chancel. There had been a wooden west tower but Tollit and Dolby replaced this with a stone bellcote. They also added a vestry on the north side of the church.^[3] The church is now part of the Benefice of Chinnor, Sydenham, Aston Rowant & Crowell. The Old Rectory is a Georgian house of three bays designed by John Rebecca and built in 1822."

 

 Your first view of the church from the entrance from the carpark

The churchyard is not large so taking a photo of the south side is not easy. The low window indicated the church was old

The east end of the church

 

Going around to the north side 

 

The collage shows both the original south and north doors

Back to the west end

The main entrance to the church from the village is up the side of the pub and through this lychgate

The churchyard is quite overgrow in places

various areas of the churchyard

Looking towards the north side of the church with the graves beside the boundary wall

 A week later I had the opportunity to return after making arrangements for the church to be open. My thanks to Maggs for being so good for doing this.

Looking down the nave from the aisle

Using my wide angle lens the whole church  from behind the font

 

Chancel arch looking into the chancel

 

Taken with my iphone

 

In the chancel

The altar table with east window 

 

iphone view of the altar and east window

Altar cross with the altar panel behind

 

 The east window which is quite beautiful

 

Behind the altar under the carpet you will find medieval tiles 

 

There are more the other end of the tomb you will see as well

 

Piscina & Sedilia

 

The pulpit along with lectern 

View from the pulpit

 

Some of the plaques and the church brass you can see in the church.

 

 The Roll of Honour for the village

Plaque to Henry Hamp Hill

Low side window along with candelabra and what may be one of the original corbel decoration

 

 View west from the chancel arch

 

 Closer view showing the font and organ 

The west window showing St Michael and St George you might notice has some damage 
 

The organ which looks like it is still used from time to time

The font though I could not tell you how old it is

Window with display in the nave

Advent candle along with the carved choir stall tops 

Before I left I was shown a couple of prints of the original church, this one shows the church full of box pews and a pulpit with sounding board. The Victorians tor it all out

 

 

The 1835 restoration shows a bell tower and the chancel higher than the nave. That was changed as well

I will leave you with this shot I took when I got to the church, I missed this cross the last time

Take Care

Till Next time I wish you all a pleasant weekend