... visited on 12th January
A beautifully modelled Nativity scene was the first thing I saw as I entered this lovely church
Looking to my right down the Nave to the Chancel and left to the Saxon font
An 1845 Tithe map showing the names of surrounding fields and some of the landowners names including Benjamin D'Israeli (Balliol College)
Although I didn't see it, there is a wall mounted memorial to William Henry Smith of WH Smith and Sons who was churchwarden of the church and played the organ here as a hobby.
The South Transept was the village's schoolhouse in early Victorian times
15th century carved wood panel was a bedhead before being incorporated into an alter
The Lady Chapel
Compared to the Lady Chapel the Chancel is rather plain ...
except for the roof ...
Magnificent ... or what!
The exit/entrance door to the church is 14th century and opposite just behind the nativity is a blocked-up door called 'the devil's door' which was a symbolic exit for the devil when a child was 'baptised unto God'.
I'm glad we found the church open.
What a lovely church, Carole and that ceiling is truly stunning. Jennie x
ReplyDeleteI so love roofs like that. It must have taken the painters a huge amount of time to do. I can imagine myself getting stuck into something similar a bit more rewarding than repainting the gunnels of a narrowboat!
ReplyDeletePip NB Oleanna