St Mary Shifford

St Mary's Chapel stands in a field near a local farm not far from the river Thames. I first saw the chapel from the Thames path when I was walking along it visiting WWII pillboxes, this was back in December 2010. the first set of photos were taken then and are the only ones I have due my dropping a hard drive and loosing some of the photos I took. When I first visited the church it was locked and I always meant to return, it took over 12 years because in September 2023 I made a point of visiting during the Stride & ride event and took my photos inside. It turned out to be a really nice little church

 The chapel is off the road and accessed via a footpath , the history below comes from Wikipedia

 Shifford was never an ecclesiastical parish but in medieval times it was a dependent chapelry of Bampton. The chapel was later described as "Georgian" and became derelict by the 19th century. In 1863 it was replaced with a Gothic Revival one designed by the architect Joseph Clarke. It is a Grade II listed building.

Looking from the south west

The gravel path leading past the churchyard

The churchyard with many old graves in 

The south side of the chapel

 

The headstones here look like the are older than the church

 

 

 

 Preaching cross stump

 

 

The porch and in front the remains of the preaching cross.

 

 

Collage of tomb chests and headstones
 

 Couple of headstones sinking beside a family grave

 

Collage of headstones

 

 Old headstone 

 

South of the church

north east side

The preaching cross and church

The door open for the ride and stride event

The nave and chancel

Inside the chancel with choir stalls

Wider view

The altar and east windows

Altar with simple wooden cross and candle holder

Altar cross and candle holder with east window behind

the stained glass above the east windows

As you walk around the church each window has a stained glass insert and inscription below

 

The west windows

The windows are beautiful in their simplicity

I like coming across these old notices

Memorial to Philip Wallis

Memorial to Kathleen Amanda Thompson

Pulpit on the left of the chancel arch

View from the pulpit

Near the back is the font. 

I did visit St Lawrence Tubney after on the off chance it would be open, it was so rather than posting another blog on the church I have updated the original. If you click on the link you can see the updated blog with photos of the inside of the church.

Till next time I wish you all a wonderful weekend

St John the Evangelist Wallingford

St John the Evangelist Catholic Church Wallingford to give it's correct name
Before there was any Mass centre in Wallingford, a handful of Catholics would have attended Mass at either Dorchester to the north or Goring to the south.
In the autumn of 1924 the Catholic Community of Wallingford purchased an old Congregational chapel which had been built in the market place in 1799. Some years before it had ceased to be a place of worship, and had been used as a furniture store and bazaar. It was repaired, refurbished and re-opened as a Catholic Church in late 1924.
Eventually the need for larger accommodation proved a challenge. In 1958 it was decided to rebuild on the same site. While this work was going on, Mass was said in the Town Hall. The original chapel was demolished and the new and enlarged church was built.  It has had quite a few priests since it was purchased.

James Doran (served from Abingdon) 1924-1934

James Campbell (served from Didcot) 1934-1937

Arthur Olney 1937-1947

Abraham Jacob 1947-1957

William J Kearney 1958-1970

John D Dwyer 1970-1989

Donal O’Brien 1989-2006

David O'Sullivan 2006 -?

Since writing this I have found out Father David has moved on and Father Philip Harris has taken over.

(The history came from the church website)

This is the church as you see it today and the porch is a recent addition which a few years after building had a toilet added over to the right. I often wonder why it was never made the full width.  The front has been in the photograph of many marriages

So what do I remember of the church. Well just about remember Father  Jacob but fondest were of Father J Kearney who I used to serve mass for. At confessions Sat morning I could be kneeling at altar rails with my mate Dominic and Father J Kearney would walk up behind us and skelp me round the ear playfully  and slip my friend Dominic a bar of Chocolate, I was very sad when I heard he passed away. He retired in 1970 and  Father Dwyer took over. He was a nice priest and quite spoken  He buried my Father from her and a few years later  my wife & I were married here.  Father O’Brien was another nice priest who I met when I took my Mother to Mass he was also the priest who buried my Mother, it was a shame he moved to a  position elsewhere. The last Priest I met was Father O'Sullivan or Father David as he likes to be called is a very happy person who I found very helpful even though I don't visit his church as often as he would like.  

 

 The photo along the aisle was taken a number of years ago

 

 But recently I went in to esquire on a funeral that was happening the following week
The Altar had changed a little

 

 with the beautiful marble table now on show

Above is the Crucifix which I remember from my childhood though the figure of Christ is the same I think the cross has been changed 

 

 The Church Tabernacle  now sits on it's own plinth between the cancels and icon pictures either side

 

 2016

 

 

2024

 

The altar with crucifix above, it was shortened because I remember it being longer

The altar I remember after it was first moved was white and the legs a different shape

Looking to the entrance where the organ loft used to be, I feel it took away some of the feeling of the church

Stations of the cross along the walls

 

Our Lady with Jesus

Funny thing is the candle holder does not seem to have changed much

 

The inside of St John the Evangelist this has changed over the years. The pews you see were originally the pews from the Congregational chapel and when it was rebuilt in 1958 my Father got one of the pews and made a garden bench out of it we had for years. The pews you see in the photo have been in the church since it was rebuilt. The church was modernised in the 1990's to how you see it now. The altar rails were removed and no doubt sold off though I do still have one of the spare wrought brass pieces made for it. The blue and green glass frame you see was added and above where I am stood was a balcony which had become unsafe and was also removed. The roof beams above had top be fixed as they are laminated and had started to come apart, hopefully the church will survive a good few years more. since I wrote this some changes have been made to the church which I think have made an improvement.  One of these days you will see me at the back again during mass as the church still has a special place for me as I remember walking down the aisle with my new wife and big grin.

 

Till Next time have a peaceful week

 

 

St Mary-Le-More

St Mary-Le-More dominates the Market Place in Wallingford, it sits just behind the Town Hall between two roads. I Have passed it many times over the years and it is only of recent years that I have ventured in. The Church is not the oldest one in the town but is probably the best known and one has stood on the site since Norman times. It was rebuilt at the end of the 13th Century and what you see now rebuilt in 1854.Today I will share with you some views I took of the church.

St Mary-Le-More seen from the Market Place, I've used the wide angle to get in the hole church, the road on the right is St Martins Street

Viewing the chancel end of the church from St Marys Street.

The bell tower  that dominates the town, the tower was rebuilt in 1653 after a thunderstorm caused serious damage, the flint came from the old castle

The churchyard is quite small compared to some I have visited

Most headstones being very old

with the words on them worn or eroded away

The odd one stands out though

Now the churchyard is unused but kept looking neat. The front churchyard has been partly paved over incorporating two of the slabs as part of the area, the other part on St Martins Street is still grassed.

The paved area has a seat and an information board on the church there now.

The entrance is a welcoming one with glass doors leading into the church.

Inside the church has been changed from the Victorian pews to having chairs like have seen in other churches. The rood screen you can see was made in 1925 in memory of the two Miss Hedges a family who are remembered well in the church.

The rood screen in one of the best examples I have seen todate though it it is relatively young

The rood screen was based on the medieval screens.

Through the rood screen we come to the chancel which I found difficult to ge a good shot of.

 Taken just before Christmas 2013

The altar and marble work behind.

The superb chancel window

Some of the detail on the chancel window.

The memorial to John Kirby Hedges in the chancel

Along with another which is on the wall

There are other memorials in the chancel which are well worth looking at

coming out  of the chancel you can see this Italian marble Pulpit, unfortunately I could not move the puzzle board out of the way to get a better photo

 I took this one while visiting at Christmas time so gives you a better idea as to how it looks
 

To the right you can see a carved stone font which dates to the 15th century

Walk round the church you can see some beautiful stained glass windows

The south aisle and the nave roof

Have a peaceful Sunday