St Lawrence Tubney

The first photos for the were taken in 2020 three years later I dropped in and found it open for cleaning  and having flowers aranged for the harvest festival so I took the opportunity to get photos inside.
This is a church I never realised was there till finding it on a map one day, best of it is I only worked a mile or so away from the place many years ago. I took the opportunity for a quick visit on my way back from Longworth. Due to what has been happening of late it was locked.  The only bit of history I could find was this
" The new church, designed by A. W. Pugin and dedicated to St Lawrence, was consecrated in 1847, with a font given by Queen Adelaide."

 

St Lawrence from the wall

The church is right beside the A420 going to Swindon and is quite a pretty little church

The church does not take up a lot of space

  

The porch is right at the West end

 

You pass this sign. 

 

The West end was a little dark in the photo due to the sun but I edited the picture to make it clearer 

 The north side showing the vestry

Above looking West along the South side 

 

This monument is over to the right from the gate

 

Looking down the North side of the church 

 

Above the Commonwealth War Grave of Pilot Officer D Macg Brown.  The headstone is erroded
His parents came from  Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

 

Looking back West along the North side

As you walk around the East end you pass this seating area 

 

 I stopped to have a look at these two headstones. Richard Blackwell is the Son of Sir Basil Henry Blackwell who ran Blackwells Book shop in Oxford. Sumner Francis Austin was an opera singer.

 

 

Looking down the nave, to the left of the is the organ, the original is now in the church at Kingston Bagpuize

 

Chancel arch

 

Choir stalls in the chancel

 

 Altar rails & east window

 

The altar and east window

 Some of the plain stained glass

 

The church may be small but it has some beautiful stained glass to see

 

Especially these two windows

The vestry 

 

The Roll of Honour and memorial  to Katharine Parsons

 

 

Cross and candle holders

 

Carving on one of the choir stalls

 

 

The roof looks quite amazing

 

 Font 

|Floral arrangement by one of the windows

 

St Lawrence is a beautiful little church in danger of being made redundant and the fact is is of Pugin design makes it one worth saving for the local people 

Till Next time Stay Safe and Take Care

St Denny Stanford in the Vale

I admit this church has been on my list for a little while and as I drove through the village on my way to Shellingford I thought it only right to stop off on my way back. The church sits back off a green in a beautiful part of the village. I was not sure if the church was open and soon found out it was locked and unlikely would be open for a while. I will return when it is open again. one thing I did notice with out looking into the history more is that the nave roof has been lowered as is evident from the outline on the East side of the tower.
"The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Denys are its late 12th-century south and north doorways. The west tower was built late in the 13th century, but its height was increased later. The chancel is Decorated Gothic. Later are the 14th-century north and south aisles, Perpendicular Gothic clerestory and south and north porches. Remnants of 14th-century stained glass survive in the east and south windows of the chancel. The pulpit and baptismal font are Jacobean. The pulpit is wooden; the font is stone encased with wooden panels and cover. The church is a Grade I listed building
The tower has a ring of eight bells. Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester cast the third, fifth, seventh and tenor bells in 1700. Abel Rudhall cast the fourth bell in 1753. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble and second bells in 1891.
St Denys' parish is part of the Benefice of Stanford in the Vale with Goosey and Hatford."

Looking down the path to the church

The porch looked a little on it's own compared to the rest of the church

The Porch and the bell tower

Going around the North side you come across this porch that looks rather grand

Heading down the East end and looking along the North side

I went around the Church again with my wide angle lense

It gave a different point of view

In that I could get the whole church in the frame

Above the North porch looks older than the South with the weathered stonework

Right a view of the whole North side

Across from the church on the South side you find the churchyard which is mostly overgrown

Parts near the path are trimmed and the cremation memorials for people to visit

A path is cut through the long grass around the church

Over on the North west end of the church a mown part around the more recent burials

Above a lone tomb stands away from the Tower

I found a few Commonwealth  War Graves in the long grass at the West end of the churchyard

Did not seem a good way to remember them hidden away like this and forgotten

Above over in the Far West end and left looking along the South side of the churchyard

When I turned around I looked North West across the forgotten part of the churchyard

Nearby the more recent burials in trimmed and neat cut grass

A chest tomb and headstone the family's forgotten

Here you look down the North side towards the East end

Looking back the other way through the long grass

Misplaced headstone stacked against the groundsman's hut

The Village War Memorial near the church

I will leave you with this view of the church from the green.

Till Next time I wish you all a safe weekend