St Nicholas Piddington

St Nicholas Piddington is listed as one of Oxfordshires Best Churches and one in a list of churches I would like to visit that are listed in the book.  There are over 100 to visit and a good few are in Oxford which I will be trying to visit as well. So far I realise I have been to over two thirds of the churches listed. Piddington was one of the furthest I have been to while I waited to pick my son up from the JR. You are almost in Bicester when you get there and it is easy to miss the turning to the village

St Nicholas church from over the churchyard. Below is the history of Wikipedia

"Piddington was originally part of the ecclesiastical parish of Ambrosden. By 1152 "Ralph the hermit" had established Holy Cross chapel on Muswell Hill about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the village. Until the English Reformation, Piddington villagers used to process to the chapel on Christian feast days. The last ruins of the chapel are reported to have disappeared in 1800. The chapel of Saint Nicholas in Piddington is known to have existed by 1309. It is now Piddington's Church of England parish church. Its Early English chancel was built in about 1300, but has ornate Decorated Gothic sedilia and Easter Sepulchre carved in about 1350. There is a canonical sundial on the south wall. In the 14th century the Decorated Gothic south aisle was added, with a four-bay arcade and some new two-light windows, but also re-using two Early English lancet windows presumably from the south wall of the nave.

A number of Perpendicular Gothic windows were later added to the nave and one to the north wall of the chancel. The present belltower was built in the 16th century. St. Nicholas' parish church was repaired in 1826 and restored in 1855. In 1898 it was restored again under the architect John Oldrid Scott, whose alterations included replacing the chancel arch. A 14th-century wall painting of Saint Christopher on the north wall of the nave was discovered in 1896 and restored in 1935. St. Nicholas' church is a Grade II* listed building.

The west tower has a ring of five bells. Edward Hemins of Bicester cast the tenor bell 1729 in and the fourth bell in 1738. Llewellins and James of Bristol cast the treble, second and third bells in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. St Nicholas' parish is part of the Benefice of the Ray Valley, along with the parishes of Ambrosden, Charlton-on-Otmoor, Islip, Merton, Murcott, Noke, Oddington and Woodeaton.^"

^{Taken from the footpath, the bell tower is shorter that most churches I have visited}

^{West end of the church with door, this was the nearest I could get as the boundary is where the hedge is}

 North side view of the church

East end with the triple east window

South east end where you can see a narrow priest door, the one thing I missed was the mass dial by the door

 

South west end showing the tower

 

Looking north west to the tower

^{West door in the Base of the tower}

^{Path leading through the churchyard}

As you get near the church you see the older headstones

^{A single chest tomb stands amongst the headstones}

^{Collage of headstones and tombs}

 

 

 Older headstones

 

 

Graves at the east end of the church

 

View of the church as you walk in

 

Looking down the nave

 

 

Chancel arch

 

In the chancel

 

 Altar rails

Altar with kneelers at the base

 

Looking back through the church from the chancel

 

 

Pulpit which looks quite modern

 View from the pulpit

 

 

Nave and south aisle from the pulpit

 South aisle with organ at the end

 

Altar panel and east window
 

 

The east window
 

 

 The only other stained glass is this lancet window

 

The other window no less nice to look at are plain glass

At the back of the church a panel divides off the bells pulls

One walls above remnants of medieval wall paintings 

The organ in the south aisle

Memorial to Leonard Busby who died in action 1917

If you can look over the divider in to were the bells are rung you will see another memorial

To Lieut R Stone of the RAF who died in 1918

Will bequests on a panel

You can find these interesting memorials on the north wall of the chancel

Three memorials in the chancel

some of the carvings on the memorials

This looks like it is an old stoup

Decorated Gothic sedilia

Carvings you can see in the church

 

This gem was hidden behind a chair on the north wall of the chancel, it's an Easter Sepulchre carved in about 1350.

 

 

The font which I cannot give an age to

 

I will leave you with this shot of the old altar panel

Till next time I wish you all a peaceful weekend

St Swithun Merton

 

This week we are back on track with my posts, I hung off a week to give me a chance to go inside the church. The first visit I walked around the outside and after taking all the photos I needed, I knew the church was locked but thought I would just give the phone number on the door a ring. After getting through to I found the key holder was in Devon so I told him I would come back in about five weeks. This time I phoned and got through and was told they would be there in 5min. after waiting a little wile I phoned again and this time after the person realised they forgot I was let in about 2 0r 3 min later. Looking around church was worth the wait.

" The Church of England parish church of Saint Swithun is Decorated Gothic, built early in the 14th century. It has a south aisle, linked with the nave by an arcade of four bays. Late in the 15th century the Perpendicular Gothic clerestory was added to the nave. The chancel windows and one window in the south aisle are also Perpendicular Gothic. The font is much older than the church, dating from late in the 12th century.

St Swithun's had a north aisle but it was demolished in the 15th or 16th century. Its arcade of three bays was blocked up and remains in the north wall of the nave. The tower had a spire but it became unsafe and in 1796 it was removed.

St Swithun's most notable monuments are wall-mounted ones in the chancel commemorating John Doyley (died 1593) and his wife, Elizabeth Poole (died 1621) and Richard Harrington (died 1712). The Poole monument has strapwork and Tuscan columns but is significantly mutilated and in want of restoration.

A turret clock for St Swithun's was made late in the 17th century. Its original dial had only an hour hand. In 1867 this was replaced with a new dial that has both hour and minute hands. Some time after 1989 a new turret clock was installed; the 17th century original is now displayed in the nave.

The Gothic Revival architect Charles Buckeridge restored St Swithun's from 1865^[8] until 1872.^[3] St Swithun's had been decorated with mediaeval wall paintings, once brightly coloured but by 1823 described as "dim with age". During the restoration work it was found impossible to remove the layers of whitewash covering them. St Swithun's is a Grade I listed building.

In the Edwardine Inventory of 1552 St Swithun's had three bells and a Sanctus bell. In 1795 the bell tower had a ring of seven bells but the churchwardens obtained permission to sell five of them to pay for a new lead roof for the church. By the 1950s there were only two bells: one cast by Richard Keene of Woodstock in 1694 and the other cast in 1887.

In 1565 the Crown sold the advowson and rectory to William Petre, who in 1572 gave both to Exeter College, Oxford. Since 2000 the ecclesiastical parish of Merton has been part of the Ray Valley Benefice.^"

 ^{Before starting you may notice dark blue sky's in the first photos of the church and churchyard this is because I was using a filter to compensate for the harsh light}

Just inside the gate from about the centre of the churchyard you get the best view of the church

 One of the first things I notice is a preaching cross stump, the top half missing long gone

Looking over towards the tower and porch

 

The bell tower with the clock

 

Going around the west end to the North side

This was another thing I noticed right away, the church used to have a north aisle which was removed and the arches blocked up. You can see a line where the rood joined. Makes me wonder what it looked like before it was removed

This is the top of one of the pillars supporting an arch note the paint still in the groove, I think the church would have been painted in medieval times

Looking back west from the east end of the church

The east end

Going around by the chancel on the south side

And what the porch

A row of headstones greet you as you walk in these all belong to the Nicholls Family

This one is the most readable

Looking across the churchyard to the east end

 

A chest tomb stands out with the headstone over on the west side

Looking east down the north side

Another set of crosses with the footstones leaning on them behind

Into the porch

Look up and you notice what looks like a mock window, this I have seen on a few of other churches in the area

 

A memorial on the porch wall by the notice board. This would have been the last photo but I knew I would be back £350 is about £14,500 today

 

 Five weeks later  and I walk in in the church

 Looking from the door I notice the arches which I noticed on the outside.

 

 

Looking down the nave to the chancel arch
 

 

Same view as the first with my phone. the altar on the right is at the end of the south aisle

 

Looking across at the three arches that once would have taken you to the north aisle

 Longer view down the nave

Looking through the chancel arch at the altar, the glass topped one in the foreground is what I presume is used now

 

The chancel with the altar table

 

A screen has been built across here to form a vestry behind

 

Looking back through the arch towards the back of the church

 

One of the stunning old oil lamps in the church

 

On the left of the chancel arch is this beautiful pulpit 

From the pulpit

Lets take a wider view.

 

 

The pews along the arches that were part of the north aisle
 

 

Carving at the center of the arch

 

 Carved heads can be see along the nave supporting the roof

 One of the old oil lams in its holder along the nave

 

Chancel again
 

 

Looking back out to the nave 

 

Looking to the south aisle

 

Major, Michael Wakeham  Killed in action on 22 July 1941 while trying to land a Hampden P5305 at RAF Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire, aged 28. He is buried at Upper Hayford Cemetery

This fist monument is that of John Doyley and shows him and his wife   

 

Facing each other 

 

  

Underneath his four daughters 

This monument is to Elizabeth Poole

The inscription on it is very hard to read

 Floor tome to Willi Hall

 Couple of more monuments in a family crypt

 

 This lady Katherine Harrington had a busy life having 16 kids, seven sons and 9 daughters, no wonder she died

 

In a blocked up north door is the village Roll of Honour

 

  Listing all those who gave their lives in WWI

 

 

A screen blocks off your view of the back of the south aisle

 

 

 Shame really because you can see this superb font which is older that the church

 

The back also hides a lager version of the pews you see here

 I did not want to show them as the area was full of storage items

 

But these are the carved ends on the pew
 

 

 they are beautiful

 

 

They look like they date from the 17th century

 

 A Reindeer stands in a stoup

 

The organ between the nave and north aisle

 

A screen at the end of the nave with a door that lets you in to the bell loft of the tower

 

The roof structure I felt was well worth looking at

 

The end over the chancel arch

 

Carvings in the center

 

Clearer view of the area over the chancel arch which at some time was repaired from the look of it

 

The west end of the nave, I love how the beam is one single piece of oak and the shape of it

 

Looking back along the nave to the west end

I will leave you with this shot of the bible on the lectern 

Till Next time Stay Safe and have a wonderful weekend