St Oswold Widford

 

 After visiting Fullbrook then Burford churches I stopped off at St Oswold Widford which is not far from Burford and stands own on a hill above the River Windrush the old Medieval village it served is no more and only a few houses that comprises the village are about a Kilometer away

"Early occupation is evidenced by the remains of a Roman villa. The Church of England parish church of St. Oswald stands on its site, and a small area of Roman mosaic was visible in its chancel, but has been moved to Cirencester museum. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded that St Oswald's Priory in Gloucester held the manor of Widford. It was a detached part of Gloucestershire until the 19th century. St Oswald's church in Widford is Early English Gothic and was built in the 13th century. In the 14th century numerous wall paintings were added, remains of which survive. Most of the church's present windows were added in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Widford was a substantial village in the Middle Ages but today only the 16th-century manor house and a few other houses remain. St. Oswald's stands in a field whose cropmarks show the outlines of former buildings. In 1844 the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 transferred Widford to Oxfordshire. Widford was a civil parish from 1866, but by 1931 its population was only 29. In 1932 the civil parish was merged with the parish of Swinbrook to form the civil parish of Swinbrook and Widford.

The historian, priest and former Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, Vivian H. H. Green, is buried in the churchyard." 

 

The church looks quiet basic from the path and sits uphill

Going past it along the wall looking north east

South west end

North west end

The east end and window

North side of the church

Blocked north door

North west view with the churchyard

Near the entrance this grave with coat of arms and the name Buxton on it

Nearby is this tomb

Along the south side of the church

 

The north side has a few more headstones and graves 

A few of the headstones are newer than the graves behind

Up in the north east corner of the churchyard this bench

Commemorating the coronation of King Charles III

Inside is a bit like going back in time

With a small chancel arch

Simple chancel

The altar just a table with a cross beneath a plain east window

The altar table and cross

Looking back though the chancel arch

Either side of the east window what looks like wall painting and the outline of the statues that would have been on the corbels

Various recesses in the church

The pulpit and steps

This box pew as most likely for the clerk and is used for a lectern 

Steps leading to the pulpit

View down on the box pews from the pulpit

Looking form the lectern

The original box pews

Inside a box pew

Book shelf with hymn books on it

another box pew though I'm not sure what is under the cloth

The floor is covered in flagstones and a couple like this one look like tombs

The one memorial in the church to John Secker and his wife Elizabeth

Lancet window

There are Medieval wall paintings in the church this one the biggest you can make out

This is the other one

The tub font one of the oldest parts

I will leave you with this close up of the Coronation coat of arms on the bench.

Till next time I wish you al a peaceful week

St James the Great Fullbrook

 

 I think I mentioned previously that the churches I am now visiting take me an hour to drive to so I try to visit at least two and today I intended to visit two I had not been to and revisit another two. Burford which I have published was one of them and Swinbrook was another which I needed a couple of photos from. Fullbrook is a stones throw from Burford so as to speak though I took a different rout to get here rather than have to put up with the Burford Traffic. On parking outside the church I met a person who I asked if the church was open to which he replied it was as he had just been practicing on the organ. If I had been ten minuets earlier I would have been treated to hearing the organ played in the church.

"The Church of England parish church of Saint James the Great is Norman. The north aisle was added about 1200, linked with the nave by a four-bay arcade in the Transitional style between Norman and Early English Gothic. In the 13th century the chancel was remodelled and the north transept were added, both in Early English Gothic. The south porch was added later in the same century. The east window of the chancel, the west window of the north aisle and one window in the south wall or the aisle are also 13th century. Later a clerestory was added to the nave and new Perpendicular Gothic windows were inserted in the south walls of the nave and chancel. In the 15th century the bell tower was built into the west end of the nave.

A wooden plaque on the south wall of the nave records that the church was completely re-roofed in 1827. A second plaque records that the church was restored in 1892, with the architects being Ewan Christian for the chancel and "Messrs Waller" for the nave and tower. This may refer to the architect and antiquarian Frederick S. Waller of Gloucester. The parish war memorial in the north aisle was lettered by Ninian Comper and dedicated in 1952. The ecclesiastical parish of St James the Great is now part of the United Benefice of Burford, Fulbrook, Taynton, Asthall, Swinbrook and Widford.

Edward Neale of Burford cast St. James' sanctus bell in 1649 and the tenor and treble bells in 1662. Henry III Bagley, who had bell-foundries at Chacombe in Northamptonshire and Witney in Oxfordshire, cast an additional bell for St James' in 1732. In 2004 the original bells were removed and a new frame was installed. The Neale sanctus bell was retained, the largest of the Neale bells was re-hung as the tenor and the Bagley bell was also re-hung. A new treble bell and two other new bells, all cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2003 and 2004, were added. A former buoy bell that John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast in 1968 for Trinity House was restored and added to the tower to complete the present ring of six bells. The original Neale treble bell was removed to Burford where it is now displayed in St. John the Baptist parish church, Burford".

It was overcast so some photos might appear darker.

The bell tower with sundial

 West end view with north aisle 

 

North west end showing the nave

 

East end

 

North east view showing the chapel 

 

Looking at the north side

The Chancel at the east end

While taking the last photo I noticed this superb mass dial

North west view of the church

Lots of old headstones to look at

Even older ones alongside the path

A tomb monument you cannot miss

The tomb belongs to Joseph Collyer

More tomb chests near the church

Over to the north west you find more modern burials

Looking south  across the east end

North west corner of the churchyard

Forgotten graves with headstones ant various angles

The person buried here was in the RAF

Cast iron marker and the graves of Squadron Leader Anthony W. Pickering and Lt Col H.St.G.S. MacDowel who was in the Royal Berkshire Regiment

Private L.G.Mills

View from the south east side of the churchyard

While looking at the mass dial I noticed these bale tombs

This one had some beautiful carvings on it

Some of which had eroded away

The end one was more plain

South side of the first one the face and part of a wing had gone

The other still had some of the inscription on it dated 1799

The bale tomb deaths head

The porch

Inside carvings on one of the walls and the pillar looks to have a pilgrim mark on it

Norman doorway

Inside looking down the nave

Along the aisle to the chancel arch

Looking through the chancel arch

The altar rails and altar

The east window has some very nice stained glass

Looking  along the aisle to the back of the church

Memorial dated 1739

Nearby this brass which came off a tomb

Another large memorial

This one dated 1698 with cherubs on it

Seats in the chancel

The pulpit

From which you see the nave and north aisle

Royal plaque and commemoration plaques

Memorial to John Seacole dated 1720

Winged deaths head at the base

Job Lewis Charity

Sir George Fettiplace Bequeath

Blocked doorway

Where you will find the Roll of Honor Michael Burbridge was in the signals and must have lived in the village

 

 Some medieval wall art survives

The north aisle

Window casement

Windows at the south west end

The Norman tub font

Old corbels with carved faces on them

The organ I missed being played

With the hands in prayer I will take my leave

Till next time may I wish you all a peaceful weekend