St Mary Charlbury

 

Charlbury was the next church along from Stonesfield that I wanted to visit.  I was hoping to find someones grave there that I used to know but there does not seem to be any record of him. The church was not one listed in Oxfordshire Best Churches but on visiting it it must have been high on the list to be included. It had been reordered but had been done very well

"The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin is by tradition associated with Saint Diuma, the 7th-century first Bishop of Mercia. By 1197 or 1198 the church belonged to Eynsham Abbey, which held the advowson of the parish until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. The arcade between the nave and north aisle is Norman. In the 13th century the building was greatly enlarged: the chancel was extended eastwards and the south aisle, west tower and north and south chapels were added. In the 14th century the present Decorated Gothic east windows of the chancel and south chapel were added. During or before the 15th century the north aisle was widened. In the 15th century Perpendicular Gothic additions were made to the building: the tower was extended higher and a west door was inserted in its base, a clerestory was added to the nave and new windows were inserted in both aisles.

In the 16th century the Perpendicular Gothic south porch was added. Two wooden galleries were added, possibly in the 18th century. In the 18th or early in the 19th century most of the windows lost their tracery. The church includes memorials to Elizabeth Norborne, Dowager Viscountess Hereford (d.1742). In 1856 the Gothic Revival architect G.E. Street had the galleries removed and the church refitted with new pews, and in 1874 the chancel was rebuilt to the designs of another Gothic Revival architect, Charles Buckeridge. Early in the 1990s an extensive reordering saw the pews removed and the main altar moved to the west end. The organ is a two-manual Wyvern digital instrument, installed in 2010 to replace a Makin digital in place since 1990. The bell tower has a ring of six bells, all cast in 1716 by Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester plus a Sanctus bell cast by an unknown founder in about 1599."

^{South side from the churchyard}

^{Priest door in chancel}

Porch

 

North West

 

West view looking at the tower

 

 West door detail

South east view

Some interesting things I noticed around the church, the painted sundial is unusual along with the remains of a couple of mass dials

Ivy covered headstones under the yew

 

 

 Towards the west end of the churchyard

Collage of headstones

 

 Headstones and tomb

East end of the churchyard

 Looking across the west end of the churchyard

 South of the church looking towards the village

 

The porch with doors open and glass doors inside

The nave looking over to the north aisle as you walk inside

Looking along the nave to the chancel, the chairs they worship towards the west end now

Chancel with chairs inside now

Walking on to the altar

Altar and east window

 

Altar with reredo behind

The east window looking very impressive

Lancet window showing the good shepherd

Collage of memorials in the chancel

The reredo behind the altar

Looking down to the nave from the chancel

Nave from the chancel arch

The pulpit which looks Victorian

The nave and south aisle from the pulpit

 

View of the new altar in the west end

Collage of the altar and spiral staircase

The west window

South aisle

Memorial to Maude Elizabeth Day

South chapel

South wall of the chapel

South wall stained glass window

The east window is another beautiful one

The village Roll of Honor

Tablet showing the lost from WWII

The lost from WWI listed above

HMS Cressy One of the 560 who went down with the ship he was 16

Collage of memorials

Repurposed niche

The north aisle

Carving on the arch in the north aisle

Tub font on Victorian base

I will leave you with this shot of a floral display beside the altar.

Till next time may I wish you all a peaceful weekend