St Mary Magdaline Shabbington

 

 Shabbington was one of the churches I had intended on visiting when I got a chance as it was near a couple of others I wanted to see. One I have give a glimpse of at Ickford and will update that with more photos I took on this visit. Looking on Wikipedia I found some history on the church :-

"The nave and chancel of the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene are 11th century. The chancel windows are the 13th century and the Perpendicular Gothic bell-tower is later medieval. The pulpit is Jacobean and was made in 1626. The present nave windows are Victorian Gothic Revival additions. St. Mary Magdalene's is a Grade II* listed building.

The tower has a ring of six bells. All except the treble bell were cast in 1718 by Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble bell in 1881. There is also a Sanctus bell cast by Thomas I Mears of Whitechapel in 1794.

The parish registers date from 1714. St. Mary Magdalene is now part of the Benefice of Worminghall with Ickford, Oakley and Shabbington.^"

From just inside the gate looking towards the church

I zoomed in on this view to show the church

The porch and tower

Another view showing the north side of the tower and buttresses

The tower here looks like it has huge feet

Looking over at the south side of the church from the west. The buttresses look huge that support the tower

Going down to the east end looking west

The east end wall and window

Some of the headstones near the church along with a Chest tomb that is falling apart

As you walk in the churchyard you pass this grave cross leaning into a yew tree

The churchyard south of the church looking east

Over in the south west corner is a kissing gate leading to a footpath with some tombs beside it. The information board tells yo about the red kites which fly around here

Around the north side looking west

This memorial stands to one side of the path

The churchyard north of the church with the village war memorial

An old headstone with the inscription eroded away

Inside the porch palms from palm Sunday left for the parishioners to collect

I will leave you with this view of a display of daffodils which are beside the the path

You can now see the inside in the link 

Till Next time have a Happy Easter

St Leonard Eynsham

 

Eynsham Church is one I had my eye on visiting for a while though it was not on my map list. After wondering a bout which church was easy to visit in these times I remembered I used to work in Eynsham and had seen the church on the occasion I went to the Village. In fact I past it everyday I went to work as you could see it from the road to where I used to work. Some history from Wikipedia :-          "The Church of England parish church, St Leonard's, was built the 13th century. In the 15th century, the nave was rebuilt, a clerestory and north aisle were added and the west tower was built. There are Mass dials on the south wall. The building has been restored three times: by William Wilkinson in 1856, Harry Drinkwater in 1892 and over a period of eight years in the 1980s.

The west tower has a ring of six bells. James Keene of Woodstock cast the third bell in 1653. Richard Keene cast the fifth bell in 1673. John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast or recast the treble, second, fourth and tenor bells in 1895. The church has also a Sanctus bell that Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast in 1924.^" St Leonard's is a Grade II* listed building.

 St Leonard's church from the south side

 Getting a photo of the church from the square in front of the church was taxing with the sun behind so I have edited the photo to show it

It was a little better when the sun went in later

The porch looked as though it had a room over the top though the door was firmly closed

Nearby in a garden is the village war memorial

The names of the fallen surrounding the base

You cannot get a view of the west and and tower because of the ally you take to get to the back of the church. The east end (right) looked no better

On the left you can see the alley you take . The South door in the church

This is the churchyard as you come out from the alley

You also get an idea as to the size of the churchyard which extends way in the distance. Over to the right you can see St Peter's Catholic church

The churchyard extends east towards a boundary wall

One thing I did notice was Chest Tombs

More headstones looking east

Fenced in family vaults

A lone chest tomb among the headstones

The Commonwealth Ware Grave belonging to Driver C.A.Cattell

Further south towards the churchyard extension where the recent burials are

The Commonwealth War Grave of Leading Stoker Albert John Holloway

The churchyard path leading to the churchyard extension which was through the gate. The wall to the left has been remove

Along the path you can find theses signs part of the information on the Eynsham Abbey trail. The Abbey church was over towards the building in the distance The churchyard is in the Abbey cloisters

Beehives in the churchyard

The path leading towards the church

A cast iron grave cross

All this part of the churchyard is around where the Abbey church used to be

One of the more interesting chest tombs

Coffin shaped tomb slabs

Really old headstones

Last look across the churchyard

As our lockdown starts to ease off I look forward to when I can return to get photos inside the church.

Till Next time Have a wonderful weekend

Tomorrow is Psalm Sunday visit the link to see my post
 

St Peter's Catholic Eynsham

 

Visiting Eynsham  was a last minute decision with me. I felt I needed to visit a church for some photos and was wondering which was the easiest place to go on my list then Remembered Eynsham had a church I knew of. I grabbed by gear and set off. After going to a couple of places I wanted to see I parked along the road from the first church in the square and got on with taking my photos. Looking across the churchyard I noticed another church nearby and found an entrance in the churchyard. The church I noticed from the Churchyard Was St Peters Catholic Church so I walked around for a few photos. Some history off Wikipedia :- 

" In 1895 Herbert May founded a Roman Catholic mission at his home, Newland Lodge. The lodge burnt down in 1897, after which Mass was said at the Railway Inn until May had a new house built for him. The mission closed when May moved to Oxford. In 1928 the Roman Catholic parish of Witney leased the upper storey of the Bartholomew Room, making it St. Peter's Chapel. Building of a new Roman Catholic church was begun in the 1930s but was delayed by the Second World War and not completed until 1967.^"

St Peter's church which is new compared to the surrounding buildings nearby. This part is the west end. The main entrance being along the side ahead. You can rad some more history on the church on St Peter's website  Fr. Lopes who's dream the church was is buried in the churchyard

Looking slightly north with the rectory over on the left

^{This view shows the Church Entrance and Churchyard beside it}

 

Further around North with the ^{Tolkien Room on the left which you can read about in the link}

 Looking from over near the gate

This one and the next were taken from over in the Churchyard next door. this shows the east end with the apse on and right the Tolkien Room

Looking south west showing the Tolkien room right

Found these quite interesting while walking around the churchyard as couple of Church Finals where they are from I have no information on other than they are from the time of Fr Lopes

I hope to return to St Peter for a look inside when the time comes

^{Till next time have a great weekend}