St Mary Ardley

 

I used to drive past Ardley on my way to Silverstone back in the 1970's all I knew was the name Ardley Quarry which is not far way. The church was just up the road from where I had been last week. My first look at the church was there was a Georgian look about it with the big window, disappointment soon followed when I found access to the church denied as it was locked.

"The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary dates from at least 1074. The original church was demolished and completely rebuilt, but both the chancel and the bell tower of the present building contain small amounts of re-used Norman stonework. The present Early English Gothic chancel was built late in the 12th or early in the 13th century. The tower has a saddleback roof and may have been built in the 13th or 14th century. The present nave was built in 1793 and has a west gallery that was added in 1834.

St Mary's is now part of the Benefice of Cherwell Valley, along with the parishes of Fritwell, Lower Heyford, Somerton, Souldern and Upper Heyford.

The canal engineer Samuel Simcock (1727–1804) and his wife Esther (1720–1808), a sister of James Brindley, are buried at St Mary's."

 

North side of the church from the east end
 

 

South side form the east end

 

East end

 

The saddle back belltower which is unusual though I admit I have come across a few now in Oxfordshire

 

North view of the nave and tower

^{West end and entrance showing the tower}

^{Priest door in the south side}

 

  

 ^{North side view showing the whole church}

^{The churchyard looking was as you walk up the path}

^{Around the north side the churchyard is large but as the grass was wet I did not venture far to look around}

^{The tomb looks in good condition but the rest of the graves are in a state}

^{Zooming in further down the churchyard}

^{Crosses and headstones}

Like most churchyards the headstones are at different angles and you wonder how long before they fall

Collage of the churchyard. A disappointing visit. I did look through the windows ans saw the pews were gone and there was a narrow chancel arch as there were no contact details for a churchwarden I left and went onto Middleton Stoney, where there was more disappointment due to the church being on a private estate and the gates shut. Not knowing how to gain entry I left. The good news is as I write this I did get in and will be publishing the blog in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I will return to Ardley

Till next time I wish you all a peaceful week

 

St Peter Bucknell

 

This week the Church Explorer visits St Peter Bucknell which is another one of my list of Oxfordshires Best Churches to Visit, this one is along the M40 from Bicester which is another church on my list to visit.

"The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter has a central Norman tower. The nave and chancel were enlarged in the 13th century and are Early English Gothic. In the 15th century the bell stage was added to the bell tower and the Perpendicular Gothic clerestory was added to the nave. St Peter's is a Grade I listed building.

In 1552 St Peter's had three bells plus a Sanctus bell. In 1955 it still had three bells, but the earliest was cast in 1597.The church's turret clock is of unknown date, but appears to be late 17th or early 18th century. St Peter's parish is now part of the Benefice of Bicester, Bucknell, Caversfield and Launton."

The south side of the church with it's porch and transept

North side from the path

Back around the south side looking at the porch

West end with window

North west looking east

The central tower with staircase

The chancel end showing the buttresses supporting it

Looking west

South east view

Going further around to see more of the south side

Collage showing a stoup on the north wall, Norman Door, buttress and tower showing the original roof line below the clock

Some older headstones and a tall monument

Family plot

The monument which looks more like a preaching cross

Looking east on the south side churchyard

Headstones one which looks quite old

Various headstones on the south side

Going towards the est end of the church

More recent headstones and memorials at the east end of the church

This may well be of the same family

South side headstones

The porch

Inside a rather nice Norman doorway

Inside looking down the nave

The arch leading to the cross over in the tower

Which leads to the second arch

The chancel which is lined with pews

 

Altar and east windows

 

Altar with covering

Closer view of the altar and cloth which is embroidered with a country scene

On either side of the chancel are a couple of small low lancet windows

Turning around to look back to the crossover

The nave from the screened arch

A wide view taken with my camera showing more of the roof, if you look at the previous photo as well you should see the corbels

That all are have different designs on them and I dare say are original

A blocked arch in the crossover

same on the other side with a door leading to what I presume is a vestry

The triple east windows

There is also some very nice stained glass to see in the church

The pulpit which looks Georgian

View of the nave from it

There are quite a number of memorials mainly to the Trotman family

The memorials are from around the 1700s

Lenthall Trotman and his wife Mary

This one to Samuel Trotman 1599-1684 and his wife Mary

Thomas Trotman and his family are listed on this one

Samuel Trotman and his family

Near the alter is this memorial which is minus it brass

In the nave floor more tombs can be seen

On the wall some church brasses

Which are also very old

An older stoup

This one is in better condition

Priest door in the chancel

This one is in the crossover

Where I have no doubt that it took you up a staircase to the door you see in this collage telling me that once the church had a rood loft

 

Memorial behind the pulpit to Hester 

Few more tombs in the nave floor

Harvest festival decorations

I love seeing the floral display's in churches

The back of the church with the font

You will find the roll of honour to WWII

Plus the rolls from WWI

The stained glass window in the west wall depicts St Michael below is the list of the men who died in WWI

 

The font with rather nice floral display

 

I will take my leave of you with this photo of a loaf and bunch of grapes which was on the altar

Till next time may I wish you all a peaceful week