| St. Mary's Church Chalgrove |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Tuesday, 14 October 2008 13:22 |
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St. Mary's Church, Chalgrove
Chalgrove lies 10 miles south-east of Oxford, between Stadhampton and Watlington. We are a lively community of about 3000 people, with a primary school, two churches, six shops and three pubs. We are noted for Chalgrove Brook running the length of the High Street, with its large number of ducks, and for the site of the civil war Battle of Chalgrove Field in 1643, aswell as for a medieval Manor house and a number of beautiful thatched cottages.
Set in a churchyard in which a number of old gravestones face south instead of eastwards as customary, St.Mary's Chalgrove reflects a long village life both interesting and different. Even today it enjoys a happy relationship with a flourishing church Pub in the village, 'The Red Lion Inn', which is vested in the Trustees of the Church Estate.
The Church is a fine Grade 1 listed building dating from the 12th century. It has a famous and almost complete set of medieval wall paintings covering the chancel walls.
According to the Domesday Book, in 1087 a priest named Brun occupied land here and preached the gospel. The present church dates from the early part of the 12th Century, and was begun by monks from Bec, the important Benedictine abbey in Normandy. The interior comprises a chancel, a wide nave and two aisles north and south. The piers in the south arcade have square capitals which are a Norman feature, while those in the north arcade are round and Early English, dating from the 13th Century. The church is thought to remain substantially as it was in 1500 although some records state that there was a spire on top of the tower until it came down in a violent storm in 1727. The tower contains a single handed turret clock dated in part from 1699. The east window in the chapel in the north aisle contains some 15th Century blue glass, and further vestiges of early glass may be seen in each of the three north windows in this aisle. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 October 2008 13:33 |
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