St Philip Little Rollright

 

 This week the Church Explorer visits St Philip Little Rollright on my visit to the last of the three churches in this area in the Book Oxfordshires Best Churches. First thing I noticed was the church is not that big nor is the churchyard also there was no lighting in the church but none of that detracted from it being a interesting one to visit

"The earliest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Philip are 13th-century, and include the chancel arch and buttresses. The present south windows of the chancel were inserted in the 15th century. The nave was rebuilt in the 16th century. The tower was built or rebuilt in 1617. The south porch and doorway, and a five-light window on the south side of the nave may be of the same date. Inside the church are two 17th-century monuments to members of the Dixon family. The church is a Grade II* listed building. St Philip's is part of the parish of Little Compton, Chastleton, Cornwell, Little Rollright and Salford. The parish is part of the Chipping Norton benefice, along with the parishes of Chipping Norton with Over Norton, Churchill and Kingham."

North west view of the tower

North side view of the church, notice there are no windows this side, not something I come across much

 

East end which I also note has been rendered

 

 

South east of the church

 

 South west 

South west view from over the wall

 

 I took this one and the last as I was leaving

 

 As I noticed this coat of arms on the tower wall

The churchyard is not large

one thing I noticed was this stump of what might have been a preaching cross? who knows

Headstone ages vary

Tree grow among the headstones

Though you will see the odd more recent burial here

Fenced plot near the porch which is the only photo I took of it

Inside the porch

Where you can see some graffiti

Like I said there was no lighting in the church

Although taking a similar photo with my iPhone shows it different

Inside the chancel

Wider view with my camera

The altar and east window

View of the back of the chancel arch, |I seem to have neglected doing the same from the other side

Nave looking to the west end

Prayer desk and lectern

The stone pulpit looks like it replaced a wooden one that was here

The view would have been similar anyway

Only lighting I can see is the candelabra also I notice some remnants of wall art on the wall behind

Two monumental tombs dominate the chancel

This is the Dixon Memorial

In it you can see tow female and one male figure

The inscription on the memorial shows that it is dedicated to Cecil Dixon

The center one is Edward Dixon which of the two females in Cecil is your guess but one could also be his daughter, they also had a son but he is not there

The second monument is no less magnificent to look at

Showing a single knight in repose on his helmet

The inscription has long gone to show who it is, the son of Edward Dixon?

The inscription is no where to be seen but the carvings around survive, even the color

On the top is this colorful coat of arms

The tracery on the east window

The carved top of the recess by the window

One of the south windows

The other in the chancel

With a single candle holder

The church pews

small organ in the chancel

At the back is the font 

Till next time

May I wish you all a peaceful week

St Michael & All Angels Great Tew

 

 St Michael & all Angels was the second church I had intended on visiting, this left me three more in the area to visit at a later date. I had to research where the church was, not only looking at the map but checking Google maps and street view  because the church is not visible from the road and I might add parking is not that good either but I found a place to leave my car and the church

"The Church of England parish church of St Michael and all Angels was originally Norman. The south doorway of about 1170 survives. Rebuilding ensued in the 13th century; the arcades of stone pillars inside and the south porch survive from that period. Early in the 14th century the aisles were enlarged and most of today's windows installed. The bell tower was built late in the 14th century in a transitional style between Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular. Next the Perpendicular Gothic clerestory was added. The architect Thomas Rickman repaired the church and restored its chancel in 1826–1827. The chancel has a monument to Mary Anne Boulton, which includes a reclining female figure sculpted in white marble by Francis Chantrey in 1834. The church is a Grade I listed building.

The tower has a ring of eight bells. Six were cast in 1709 by Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester. A seventh was cast in 1785 by Abraham's grandsons Charles and John Rudhall, also of Gloucester. The newest bell was cast in 1842 by W & J Taylor, presumably at their foundry in Oxford. The organ by Henry Williams of Cheltenham is a fine example dating from about 1863, the work of a maker who as foreman of Gray and Davison in London had been involved in building the organ for the Great Exhibition of 1851, now in St Anne's, Limehouse. The living of St Michael's was granted to the Benedictine Godstow Abbey in 1302 and remained under it until the abbey was suppressed in the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. The villages of Nether Worton and Little Tew were part of the Great Tew church parish. Nether Worton became separate again in the 17th century and Little Tew in the 1850s. Great and Little Tew were reunited as a single Church of England benefice in 1930".

 The entrance to the churchyard and the church is through this stone arch

 As you come near the church you are greeted by this view

 It was not what I expected being in the grounds of a house

South view of the church from the path

Looking up the bell tower

Round the north side, the building in the foreground is quite new

Closer view using my phone

North east view of the church

East end showing the south aisle

Priest door

This is the old north door that now leads to the new building via a glass hallway, one glass door was open so I popped in to get the photo of the doorway

The path to the church runs past the churchyard you see here

It's quite long and is where the modern burials are

Looking over to the old churchyard

Looking east from the way I entered the churchyard

The headstones are old and covered in lichen

With a fare few tombs among them

Collage of the churchyard

I did check the book prior to coming to the church and it told me there were baroque headstones to see

This one is unusual

Around the east end of the church are a few more

These two are the ones I saw in the book Oxfordshires Best Churches

Moss covered headstones in the churchyard

 

 

 Looking down the path

 

 The porch

 

 Along with the beautiful Norman doorway it hides

 

 Along with blocked windows

 

 

Inside the door view

 

The nave

 

iphone view from the door

 Wide view of the nave

 

Nearer the chancel arch

The chancel arch

In the chancel

Closer to the altar and east window

 

Altar and east window, the rails have some nice kneelers in front

The altar is well decorated with wood candle holders

Looking back out of the chancel arch to the nave

 

Sidilia seats on the south wall

On the north side this tomb and effigy stand out

The effigy reposing with an open book

The monument is in memory of Mary Anne Boulton

This is the pulpit and lectern

From up high looking down from the pulpit

Over to the north aisle

Lower down looking out of the lectern

Access to the pulpit is through this doorway

That is in the vestry which to me looks like it was blocked off from the north aisle as the tomb recess you see is cut short by the wall

In the recess is the effigy of a knight

Aslo in the room is a small stoup

The church has quite a few memorials to look at

Some older than others

This one has an interesting story to it

Church brass you can see on the wall of the chancel

These next brasses are hidden from view under a carpet

and it is worth pulling back to look at them

She looks quite angry at the intrusion

North aisle has another tomb recess and effigy this one looks like the lady belonging to the knight

Odd thing to find in a church is this old plough 

View back through the north aisle to the organ

On the north wall is the Roll of Honor

With the lest of those who did not return from both wars

You will also find this lancet window

The organ at the west end

Looking down to the end of the south aisle the screen blocking off where the altar would have been

Collage showing the headstops on the windows and the tracery

Also on the south wall is this wall painting

Though I doubt the person who though it was important to have a memorial placed here knew what was under the paint covering it

Look around and you will see lots of head carvings on the corbels

The south aisle

Which has a rood stares though the opening above is not that tall

Next to the doorway is this stoup now used as a shrine

four way lectern

Looking west back along the south aisle you can see the wall painting on the left

Box pews

The altar in the south aisle

At the back you find the font

Base of the tower where the bells are played

Which has a nice stained glass window to see

One thing I noticed but did not take close ups of were the amount of Funerary hatchments

They were on both sides of the nave as well as being over the chancel arch

Nicely carved pews in the nave

Behind the pews in the north aisle is this bier

Box pews in the north aisle

Pews in the nave with kneelers on the shelves

This one shows the typical English cottage

last look down the south aisle

I will leave you with this view of the bible on the lectern with the chancel in the background.

Till next time may I wish you all a peaceful week