The Church Explorer: September 2024

The second church on my trip to visit more of Oxfordshire Best Churches took me past St Nicholas Chadlington which was not in the book. The church looked later than I thought but after looking around you could see that it dated back to Norman times

"The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas was originally Norman, and the blocked head of a Norman window above the north arcade show that the building had a clerestory in Norman times. It is extremely likely, however, that a church, probably of timber, stood on the site by the late Anglo-Saxon period at the latest. The church's orientation, which is almost south-west/north-east, is somewhat idiosyncratic, and might suggest that it was inserted into the framework of a pre-existing settlement plan. In the 13th century, Early English Gothic north and south aisles were added, with four-bay arcades linking the aisles with the nave. Both aisles still retain some lancet windows from this period. The bell tower was built early in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. A chapel was added at the east end of the north aisle. The chapel's east and north windows in the Transitional style between Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic date it to the chancel about the middle of the 14th century. Later pure Perpendicular Gothic additions include the windows and north door in the north aisle, the present clerestory and nave roof and the chancel arch. In 1870, the Gothic Revival architect Charles Buckeridge completely rebuilt the chancel. St. Nicholas' church is a Grade II* listed building.

The tower has a ring of six bells. Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester cast the second and third bells in 1714. William Taylor of Loughborough cast the fifth and tenor bells in 1846 at the bellfoundry he then had in Oxford. Thomas Bond of Burford cast the fourth bell in 1911. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the present tenor bell in 2006. There is also a Sanctus bell that Thomas Bond cast in 1911. In 2001, the Church of England Benefice of Ascott-under-Wychwood, Chadlington and Spelsbury merged with that of Enstone and Heythrop to form the Chase Benefice. The Parsonage was designed by William Wilkinson and built in 1863. It is now Chadlington House."

^{The church is not quite aligned on the compass this is the west end}

^{Heading over to the south with view of the 14th century tower}

What is normally the south side

North transept

East end with north transept and south aisle

South east view

The small north aisle

Which is where I noticed something interesting

Head carvings of Gargoyls, there are more but I would have needed my zoom lens, these were taken on my phone

North aisle and tower

From the east end of the churchyard

Behind me was this Angel

West of the church a few of the graves near the wall

Though it looks sparse from on the path looking at the same place

There are more memorials and chest tombs on the south side of the church

Most over near the wall. A lot of wealthy people back then making not wanting to be forgotten

I dare say no one remembers where they are now

The headstones and mostly covered in lichen and moss

But I have to say the grass was reasonably short

The church with graves in the foreground

The porch

Inside the door leading in

You walk across this tomb slab

Inside the church looking over to the north aisle

The nave

Chancel arch

Altar and east window

The stained glass east window

Looking back through the arch to the back

On the south side of the altar

The organ in the north aisle

The pulpit

Looking over the nave and south aisle

This stunning window is in the chancel

This one might be as well

Plenty of memorials to look at

The squint on the left is over to the left of the chancel arch which could indicate there was a rood loft once but there are no indications of any around the rest of the church