Churches (275) : St Mary the Virgin, Charlbury

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Charlbury, Oxfordshire is Norman with the church owned by Eyesham Abbey. The church was lengthened in the 13th century. The chancel was extended eastwards, the south aisle, west tower and north and south chapels were added to the church. More changes happened in the 14th and 15th centuries with a clerestory added and the north aisle was widened. A south porch in the Perpendicular Gothic style was added in the 16th century.

The church was restored and altered in the mid-19th century. The church is built from coursed limestone rubble with an ashlar dressing.

Churches (273) : St Mary the Virgin, Kidlington

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Kidlington, Oxfordshire dates from 1220 though was built on the site of an earlier 11th century church. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century with aisles and side chapels added in about 1330. A clerestory was added in the 15th century. The tower was built in the 14th century, the spire is 50m tall and is known as Our Lady's Needle.

The church is mostly built from squared and coursed limestone and coursed limestone rubble.

Charlbury

After last week's train issues, at the weekend i headed back out on another journey into the shires. This time down to Charlbury in Oxfordshire and everything worked perfectly! Charlbury is a lovely large village (or town?) in the Cotswolds (and unlike a lot of places in the Cotswolds not yet ruined by endless traffic). Charlbury has a good looking church which was open too!

You can see my photos here.

Reading and Didcot

The weekend was mixed. I returned to Reading for a couple of nights, and also finally got to go to the GWR Railway Centre at Didcot. Unfortunately, i also had the flu! However, the illness only slowed me down a little and i was still able to enjoy the visit to Didcot, though i needed a lie down afterwards! You can see my Didcot photos here.

Passing through Tackley

This service ain't stopping here!

Tackley thrice

I have been to Tackley before, on Saturday it was my third visit to this small Oxfordshire village. However, until now i have not ventured as far as the parish church so did so finally on this trip, and very nice it is too along with the rest of the village. You can see my photos here.

Castles (23) : Oxford

Construction of Oxford castle began just a couple of years after the Norman conquest, by the Norman baron Robert D'Oyly. The castle uses a stream of the Thames as part of it's defences. The stream was diverted to provide the castle's moat. The original castle was a motte and bailey type, originally made of wood but with stone replacing the original walls and buildings in the 12th and 13th centuries. The surviving St George's tower may pre-date the rest of the castle and be of Saxon origin.

The castle saw action in the 12 and 13th centuries including during the Baron's War. The castle lost it's military role in the late 14th century and began to decay. However, it was bought back into action during the Civil War. This was the last time the castle was used in war, though it did have a later role as Oxford prison! It continued in this role until 1996 though much of the castle structure was lost over the years including the keep in the 18th century.

Churches (209) : St Peter and St Paul, Steeple Aston

The parish church of St Peter & St Paul in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire dates from the 13th century with additions in the following centuries. The chancel was rebuilt in 1684. The church was restored in 1842 and 1873, the north aisle being partially rebuilt. A vestry was added in 1909.

The church has a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel and a west tower. The church is built from limestone and coursed marlstone rubble.

Oxford arrival

GWR arriving in the university city.

Oxford Parkway

Due to illness a planned trip to London was cancelled this weekend, hopefully everything will be back to normal next week. Instead check out a video from last week's adventure.

Enslow Wharf

By the 19th century the canals and their owners were facing increasing competition and in many cases being eclipsed by the ambitious and aggressively expanding railway companies. One new lease of life for the canals in latter years though were the transhipment whaves. These are where goods were taken to/from railheads to businesses situated along the canals. The Birmingham Canal Navigations had quite a few of these but the Oxford Canal had only one, at Enslow Wharf in Oxfordshire [1].

The Great Western Railway had a goods yard at Bletchingdon next to Enslow Wharf, a major trade being with the Oxford Cement Company at Kirtlington. The company had no rail or road access so everything had to be taken by boat, much of it taken to Enslow Wharf for transfer to rail. This was a steady trade in the early 20th century. The goods yard (closing in 1965), cement company and even the station have now gone though the canal and railway line remain, the latter crossing the former! The wharf survives too though these days is home to many leisure narrowboats and their support services.

[1] Hugh Compton, The Oxford Canal (David and Charles, 1976) p. 135

Kidlington

Yesterday i went to Kidlington in Oxfordshire (just outside Oxford in fact). A nice place with an impressive church with a large spire, now this really does finish a church off well i think. It is always a shame when you hear that a church lost it's spire sometime in the past or plans for one never came to fruition. You can see my photos here.

Churches (194) : St Mary, Lower Heyford

The parish church of St Mary in Lower Heyford, Oxfordshire dates from the 13th century, replacing an earlier Saxon church. The church was rebuilt in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. It has north and south aisles either side of the nave. A clerestory and porch was added to the church in the 15th century as was the west tower. 

The church is built mainly from partly-coursed limestone and marl stone rubble. The church was restored in the mid-19th century.

Churches (158) : St Mary the Virgin, Kirtlington

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in the Oxfordshire village of Kirtlington has Norman origins and may have been built on the site of a Saxon church. The oldest parts of the church date from the early 12th century including supports for the bell tower. The nave was rebuilt in about 1250 with North and South aisles added. A chancel replacing the apse was built later in the century.

A clerestory and a South porch was added in the 15th century. In the 18th century the Lady chapel was replaced by a family chapel for the Dashwood family. The tower was also demolished in 1770 and was rebuilt in 1863, a few years later the chancel was restored.

Steeple Aston and Lower Heyford

Yesterday i returned to Heyford in Oxfordshire, a place i visited once a number of years ago and was well overdue a return visit. Actually the village is called Lower Heyford (though the station is Heyford). I also walked to the adjacent village of Steeple Aston, and did a canal walk too. Busy day and you can see my photos here!

Oxfordshire Places (5) : Islip

The village of Islip is in between Bicester and Oxford. The village has existed since Saxon times and most notably was the birthplace of Saint (and King) Edward the Confessor. Remains of a Roman villa have also been found nearby showing the area has been inhabited for millennia.

In the Domesday Book Islip was recorded as having a water mill and had a predominantly agricultural economy. The London-Worcester Road forded, and later crossed by a bridge, the river Ray at Islip. This gave Islip a strategic importance during the Civil War with both sides occupying the village at different times.

Islip gained a railway station in 1850. The station was closed in 1967 but re-opened in 1989. The church of St Nicholas is Norman dating from 1200 (Edward the Confessor was baptised in an earlier church in Islip). 

Oxfordshire Places (4) : Bicester

Bicester is a market town in the North Eastern corner of the county. Bicester has Saxon roots. The church of St Edburg may have been founded in the 7th century as a minster (though rebuilt in the early Norman period). Bicester was listed in the Domesday Book as Berencestra and became an important ecclesiastical centre with a priory in the town. A market and fair was established in the 13th century.

Bicester gained a railway station in 1850, now known as Bicester Village after the adjacent shopping centre. Bicester North was opened in 1910. Bicester is also close to the M40 motorway. During the late 20th century Bicester was one of Oxfordshire's fastest growing towns.

Oxfordshire Places (3) : Chinnor

Chinnor is a village in South Oxfordshire. There has been settlement in the area since the Iron Age, the name Chinnor may derive from the Saxon for "Ceona's Slope". Chinnor existed for sure in the late Saxon age, records of the village date from the reign of Edward the Confessor. Later Chinnor was owned by the Earl of Winchester and until the late Middle Ages the de Ferrers family.

Chinnor remained a small village for centuries, only seeing a spark in growth in the 1960s. The population more than doubled in size between 1951 and 1971. A major employer in the area was the Chinnor Cement & Lime Limited Company, this finally closed down in 1999. 

Chinnor's parish church is St Andrew which dates from 1160 though much of the church today from the 13th and 14th centuries. Chinnor station is the HQ of the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway preserved line, the original station closing in 1961, re-opening in 1994.