St Mary the Virgin Little Coxwell

Cistercian monks of Beaulieu Abbey built the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary in the 12th century as a chapel of ease. Little Coxwell was a dependent chapelry of the ecclesiastical parish of Great Faringdon. In 1866 the civil parish was established.

 The Church of St. Mary's is a 12th Century Chapel of Ease, built by the Monks of Beaulieu Abbey. It contains a number of features of historical and architectural interest, including:

• Norman doorway
• Perpendicular stone porch
• Transitional Priest's door
• Early decorated window
• 3 large perpendicular windows
• 13th Century Bell-cote
• 12th Century Chancel Arch, rebuilt in the 15th Century
• Norman door jambs of the Vestry in the north wall of the nave
• Carved wood rail of organ loft - part of a pre-Reformation Rood Screen
• 15th Century octagonal font
• Iron Hour-Glass stand
• Brass Candelabrum dating from 1729
• George III Coat of Arms

You walk along a narrow lane to find the church and come to this wonderful lychgate

Go though and you are met with a view of the South side of the church
A seat stands to the side of the porch looking towards the Lychgate

Go around to the West end and you find a large window with a rose one above
The North side also had a porch

Though this has been blocked off in the past and a false door placed over where the opening is. The porch is used a vestry

Above the East end window with family vault under it.

Left we look towards the Porch

Standing near you cam look up and see the bells in the cote which dates to the 13th Century
 Right one of the headstops on the window

The ones around the door are very eroded

Priest door in the chancel and the door on the porch

Inside another door takes you to the Nave

Looking down you see the 12th century chancel arch which was rebuilt in the 15th century

Above which you can see the George III coat of arms

Through the arch into the chancelm the sreen at the back is tilted

Behind on the East wall are tow recesses, one looks partly blocked in, they look like they were windows once

The Altar dressed in white

On top of which are simple wooden candle holders and a brass altar cross

The The chancel window depicts the Crucifixion and looks Pre-Raphaelite

Looking back through the arch you can see the 1729 Brass Candelabrum

Looking at it from the Pulpit on the right you can see a dove on the top

Looking from the pulpit to the Nave

Another view of the Brass Candelabrum

Looking up at the Organ loft you can see the rails of the loft which is part of a pre-Reformation Rood Screen
Right a view down from the loft, I might add the stairs are some of the most narrow I have climbed

One thing that is worth looking at above  the stairs is this Stained glass window, it is something you would miss if you did not go up them

Around the church are plaques with scripture on them, from the look they are enamelled tin and in good condition compared to some I have seen

The George III coat of arms

Not easy to read this memorial even if you are close

Little Coxwell Roll Of Honour, some one hand wrote this with great care and devotion

Right some of the kneelers in the pews

along with hymn books all neatly held

View towards the Pulpit

Before heading back out the Font which is near the door

Outside is a mixture of headstones these near the porch have footstones maching the headstone though one has lost it's top

Looking further west the churchyard has been extended

Though I did not wander through the headstones here are not so old

The headstone on the left with ivy growing up is on the Norths side, at the East end you see this family vault

Looking east here at three headstones beside the path

A Commonwealth war grave of Private A.E.King who died in 1918 age 20. The motive of the Royal Berkshire Regiment prominent on top. Many local men belonged to the Regiment, back then this area was in Berkshire, now it is Oxfordshire

Over the far East side more headstones forgotten by family's

A final look from near the seat.
Till Next time I wish you all a peaceful weekend

St Nicholas East Challow

I have lost count of the number of times I have passed by this church, many of them while on my way to visit other churches till after passing it again on my way back from visiting some churches I thought I really need to visit the church. One morning I decided I decided just that and it was time to visit and when I looked at the church I felt it was well worth doing so. Some history of Wikipedia
" The Church of England parish church of St Nicolas was a-12th century Norman building, but the font and some masonry of the nave are now almost the only original features that survive.  In the 13th century the chancel and chancel arch were rebuilt and the bell-cot and three-bay north aisle was added. The Decorated Gothic south chapel was added early in the 14th century. 
The communion table was made in the 17th century. In the 18th century the aisle was rebuilt in brick and a porch was added over a 12th-century doorway. In 1858 St. Nicolas' was drastically restored, with the aisle and west front being rebuilt and the nave re-roofed^. The rebuilding of the west front removed a 12th-century west doorway and a 15th-century west window above it. In 1884 the west tower was added at the west end of the aisle. The oak rood screen was added in 1905.
St. Nicolas' has two bells. They are not dated, but the smaller was cast by Robert Wells of Aldbourne, Wiltshire, which makes it very likely to be 18th-century."

The lychgate taking you to the churchyard

Once through the path leads right to the church. The tower on the right is smaller than the rest of the church
The churchyard goes around the West and North sides of the church

The North side ending at a wall

Back around the North West end looking to the South side which had a hedge running very near to it

The East end is accessible in the new parish cemetery

Above the East end wall

Left a view from the  side gate to the churchyard

Above the South side of the churchyard with the short tower

Left buttresses on the corners of the church

Right the entrance in the West end of the church , on the right of it is an old Stoup

Inside was a bit of a surprise for me as I expected a church that had been reordered  more than I would have thought

One nice thing was the rood screen

Inside the chancel it is nice and light

Above the East end window of stained glass

On the sill is a crucifix while looking back you see the rood screen and chance arch

The pulpit with sounding board

Standing in gives a good view of the nave and South aisle

you can see more stained glass  around the church with dedication on the bottom

If you look though you find even older stained glass in windows

Remnants of older windows  reused

The mural on the left can be seen in the chancel

Items of interest can be seen around the church

The Roll of Honour is quite new no doubt replacing an older one

Left a Madonna and child in the South Aisle Lady chapel

Behind the altar a blocked arch with mural on top[

Depicting the Visitation

Another view of the pulpit with sounding board. Right the organ which is at the back of the church

Rather nice kneeler along one of the pews

Some more of the detail in the church

The back of the church had had an entrance hall added along with an office

Nearby you can see the font with quite an nice cover on it

The back of the pulpit

While I was in the church a Lady came in turned on the lights and worked on the floral displays

This one with Lillie's smelled wonderful

Near the altar one with sunflowers brightening the place up

The rood at the top of the screen

Outside the churchyard has a scattering of headstones

Mose are near the church

The churchyard on the North of the church

Some near the lychgate

One moved over to the wall

Left these are looking towards the East end of the church

On the East end which is accessed off the road is a new cemetery

Which is empty

apart from some floral displays near the church

I will leave you with this display on a chair that was waiting to be placed

Till Next Time have a wonderful weekend