The Church Explorer

Cuddeston is only a few miles away from the last church Garsington and only a few miles further from Oxford. Neither church was on my map I keep of churches that I wanted to visit and to be honest I sort of forgot about them till after the last lockdown I looked on the OS map to see what churches were not that far from where I live and noticed a few around Oxford. There are still another tow I see which will get my attention after Christmas. This will be the last church featured in the Church Explorer this year because I will be taking a break over Christmas and composing the 2020 review of churches I visited.

There is not much I can find on All Saints Cuddeston other than the two lines on Wikipedia, even the book I have on Oxfordshire churches gives the same amount so all I can do is let you make your minds up from the photos I have taken

" Abingdon Abbey founded the Church of England parish church of All Saints in Cuddesdon in about AD 1180. All Saints' parish belongs to the Aston and Cuddesdon Deanery of the Diocese of Oxford."

I would suggest getting a coffee & cake because this time the church was open so I very pleased to be able to get more to show you

After walking through the Lychgate you come to the path leading right to the church

Turning around and taking a photo was the best I could do with the lychgate as there was a van parked close stopping me getting a good shot. If it had not have been there I could have just taken it then parked my car

Closer to the church and you see a porch on the West end and further around looking from the South you see a second one

Left the South porch with the belltower above

Going towards the East end you have a view of the chancel end and South transept

Heading over to the North side and the North transept with the North aisle to the West end

The North side with transept and aisle.The part sticking out of the tower is the staircase leading to the bell loft

On top of the tower you can make out a weathervane cock

Above the North transept and left the porch on the West end

Going inside you see a superb Norman arch which is why the porch was placed there to protect it.

The carving on the top of the door pillars is really good

The oposide side showing slighty different detail

Inside on a window sill a cross that looks like it came off the top of the chancel

Inside the porch on the South you find what looks like another Norman arch, going through the door you will see this view of the church

Walking to the main aisle you get a view down the to the crossing and chancel beyond

In the crossing you see an altar which is now used for services, in the foreground a simple lectern

Here we look back through the chancel towards the crossing and nave

Turning around you see the altar and chancel window

The altar screen which is quite an amazing to look at

The screen and chancel window

Detail of the figures looking up at Christ on the left hand side of the crucifixion

Detail of the figures of the right hand side

Christ on the cross

Beside the altar are angle figure candle holders on top of poles supporting a screen

The choir pews with a covered one for the clerk

The pulpit stands to the right of the crossing arch

This time I took a panoramic view with my phone

There is a lot of nice stained glass in the church so I made a collage showing it

It all looks quite beautiful

Hanging in the Nave in front of the arch a wonderful old candelabra

A bird beside one of the choir pre finals

The carving so detailed

A lamb here by another final

I always look to see if there is roll of honour, this one is hand written and I wonder if a local craftsman made it

The church font

In the South transept you find tomb slabs on the floor

Walking around the church and in the transepts you will come across quite a few memorials

Some are quite high on the walls

Other in corners

The last few are well hidden in the North transept behind the organ

Right a wooden cross with the initials of a parishioner who sat there

Hanging on the back some beautiful embroidered kneelers

MB dated 1922

In the North aisle a Funerary Hatchment

The North aisle looing towards the transept

In the North transept arch you find the organ

To the left of the organ you will find a spiral staircase taking you to the organ loft, I also thing it led to the rood loft that was there and remnants can be seen high on the nave wall by the arch

The South transept chapel now used as a vestry

You can also see floral displays which brighten the church

Above one of the first crosses I noticed when I came in the churchyard was this covered cross.

Right a path going through the North side of the churchyard

Over on the South side some recent burials still with floral tributes

Over by the church some older headstone with a memorial bench nearby

Around the corner on the East end chest tombs and an unusual one in a fenced plot

An old priests door blocked off long ago

Old headstones lean

Or sink in the ground

Older headstones towards the East end of the churchyard

Over near the North boundary wall family graves

I spotted this crucifix carved in a headstone, not one I see often

Above the Chancel cross silhouetted by the sun

The cockerel on the top of the tower

On my way out I stooped to see the graves beside the path

And looked down to the entrance.

The floral display in the porch

I will leave you with this shot of the advent candles on the font and wish you a wonderful weekend

That's it for this year, I will be having a blogging break till the new year which I sincerely hope is better than the one we have just had.

Take Care all and do have a safe Merry Christmas in the circumstances.

With our month long lockdown now finished I thought it was time I went out to visit some churches, looking at where to go I decided on a one I had passed by many times and not that far away. St Mary Garsington

"The oldest part of the parish church of Saint Mary includes the tower, built towards the end of the 12th century in the transitional style between Norman and Early English. The chancel is pure Early English and was built or rebuilt in about 1300. St Mary's has Decorated Gothic north and south aisles, which were added in the 14th century and have four-bay arcades.

St Mary's was restored in 1849 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect Joseph Clarke. Clarke's alterations included rebuilding the chancel arch to match the north arcade, adding gargoyles to the south aisle and much remodelling of the north aisle. St Mary's is a Grade II* listed building.

Inside, next to the entrance door, is a memorial to Garsington's most illustrious inhabitant, Ottoline Morrell, by Eric Gill.

The west tower has a ring of six bells. Richard Keene of Woodstock cast the treble bell in 1696.Abraham II Rudhall of Gloucester cast the second bell in 1720. Henry III Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast the third bell in 1733, presumably at his then foundry in Witney. John Rudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell in 1788. W&J Taylor cast the fifth bell in 1825, presumably at their then foundry in Oxford. The fourth bell was cast in 1732 but Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry recast it in 1929. The bells were restored in 2013.

Thomas Thwaites of Clerkenwell in London built the turret clock for the tower in 1796 at a cost of £172 4s 0d. It is a 30-hour clock and it strikes the hours on the tenor bell. Its dials still have only an hour hand.

St Mary's parish is now part of the Benefice of Garsington, Cuddesdon and Horspath.

The wedding scene in the 2006 film Amazing Grace was filmed at the church.^"

First clear view of the church as you come out of the trees along the path

waling over to the boundary wall is the best place to see the whole church. The scaffold is there as they are working on the roof of the South aisle because some thieves decided they needed the lead flashing more than the church did.