St Mary's Church History
‘The imaginative corbels on the north wall of the musicians, the lovely late perpendicular chancel in the style of the Divinity schools at Oxford, the tower and spire and windows make its exterior about the finest in the country’ - John Betjeman
There was most likely a Saxon church where St Mary's now stands. Firstly, we know that in about 1015 Aethelstan, one of Ethelred the Unready's sons, wrote to the Bishop of Winchester and said, ‘I grant you this land in Adderbury, which is part of the Saxon royal estate’. Secondly there was a vicar in 1100AD called Master Geoffrey. We know this from a note from William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, in which he says that Master Geoffrey had been granted a home at an annual rent of 6/- a year. We believe that this church was demolished by the Normans soon after their arrival in 1066. Firstly, it was accepted practice that Norman squires were awarded estates around England and that they would then build manorial churches. Secondly we do have this mention of Master Geoffrey. Finally, there is a solid tangible reason why we should think that there was a Norman church here in Adderbury and that is the mensa which is fixed to the east wall of the South transept. The mensa - a stone altar – is the oldest object in the church. It would have been put there under the order of Lanfranc the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury and taken away in Elizabeth l's day. It was later found hidden under a pew.
In 1232 we hear that Peter de Cancels was vicar and then in 1236 Peter Russinolm succeeded him. Clearly things were happening and we believe that a decision had been taken to rebuild this old Norman church. 1230 is the era of early English Gothic and we can still see that random rubble that was used to build the transepts. Inside the church the two tall pillars, probably to mark out the Lady Chapel in the south transept and the vestry in the north. These together with the sturdy pillars and capitals to the north and south arcades are typically early English.
In 1315 the church was enlarged with the Tower and probably the steeple (possibly added to compete with Bloxham and Deddington). It can be seen how the quality of stone has improved. Also how the masonry joints of the main component parts of the church are not bonded together. Also how the string courses outside run round at different levels. With this expansion, the church had now moved into the period of decorated Gothic.
Circa 1320 the south aisle and the south porch were expanded. This is much more modest than the north porch which was added about 20 years later in c1340. At that time the new rector was Thomas de Trilleck, the nephew to the Bishop of Winchester and clearly a man with money as he used 300 marks of his own to pay for the north aisle. The church must have looked horribly unbalanced before this addition. It was he who had put up that splendid corbel table of the Adderbury musicians but credit is due to the Master Mason of the south porch who did include three musicians on his side of the church 20 years earlier.
1381 ‘I William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England, endow my newly founded College of St Mary's of Winchester in Oxford with the rectorial responsibilities for this parish church’. With these words New College took on the rectorial responsibilities of St Mary's. It was not long before the chancel of St Mary's was causing expense and in 1404 the decision was taken to pull it down and rebuild. Richard of Winchcombe was Wykeham's Master Mason at the tythe barn at Swalcliffe just down the road and he was responsible for the rebuilding of this chancel. It is said that the style of the Divinity schools in Oxford (which Winchcombe designed and partly built after Adderbury) was honed by his work on St Mary’s. The church celebrated the chancel’s 600th birthday in 2018. The new chancel was built in the perpendicular style and higher than the rest of the building, which led presumably soon after to the building of the clerestory in the church.
The prismatory - the combination of the piscina and the sedilia - is a wonderful example of a skilled mason’s work, worthy of a cathedral. So the church now had the three variations in English Gothic architecture – early English, decorated and perpendicular. The rest of the story is less good. Around 1535 the Reformation saw the destruction of the statues in the reredos. In 1770 there was a dispute between the vicar and Sir George Cobb who held the stewardship of the church. Sir George won and the windows in the chancel were walled up with stone from a nearby dog kennel. Eight years later the mediaeval tracery and glass in the main body of the church was destroyed on the orders of the churchwardens, presumably because work needed to be done on the windows and there was no money available. As an aside, it was not only inanimate objects that were being pulled down for in 1645, in the Civil War, the poor vicar, a rather fat prelate, William Oldys, an ardent royalist, was pursued, shot and killed on his doorstep by a Roundhead soldier.
1831 saw the first recorded restoration in the chancel windows and in 1866 Sir Gilbert Scott restored the nave, aisles and south transept. He also replaced the plain tracery in the nave and aisle windows replicating the designs in Bloxham church. In 1885 Gilbert Scott’s son Oldrid oversaw a major restoration and in 1891 Canon Payne with several parishioners donated sufficient money to replace the empty niches in the reredos.
There was most likely a Saxon church where St Mary's now stands. Firstly, we know that in about 1015 Aethelstan, one of Ethelred the Unready's sons, wrote to the Bishop of Winchester and said, ‘I grant you this land in Adderbury, which is part of the Saxon royal estate’. Secondly there was a vicar in 1100AD called Master Geoffrey. We know this from a note from William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, in which he says that Master Geoffrey had been granted a home at an annual rent of 6/- a year. We believe that this church was demolished by the Normans soon after their arrival in 1066. Firstly, it was accepted practice that Norman squires were awarded estates around England and that they would then build manorial churches. Secondly we do have this mention of Master Geoffrey. Finally, there is a solid tangible reason why we should think that there was a Norman church here in Adderbury and that is the mensa which is fixed to the east wall of the South transept. The mensa - a stone altar – is the oldest object in the church. It would have been put there under the order of Lanfranc the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury and taken away in Elizabeth l's day. It was later found hidden under a pew.
In 1232 we hear that Peter de Cancels was vicar and then in 1236 Peter Russinolm succeeded him. Clearly things were happening and we believe that a decision had been taken to rebuild this old Norman church. 1230 is the era of early English Gothic and we can still see that random rubble that was used to build the transepts. Inside the church the two tall pillars, probably to mark out the Lady Chapel in the south transept and the vestry in the north. These together with the sturdy pillars and capitals to the north and south arcades are typically early English.
In 1315 the church was enlarged with the Tower and probably the steeple (possibly added to compete with Bloxham and Deddington). It can be seen how the quality of stone has improved. Also how the masonry joints of the main component parts of the church are not bonded together. Also how the string courses outside run round at different levels. With this expansion, the church had now moved into the period of decorated Gothic.
Circa 1320 the south aisle and the south porch were expanded. This is much more modest than the north porch which was added about 20 years later in c1340. At that time the new rector was Thomas de Trilleck, the nephew to the Bishop of Winchester and clearly a man with money as he used 300 marks of his own to pay for the north aisle. The church must have looked horribly unbalanced before this addition. It was he who had put up that splendid corbel table of the Adderbury musicians but credit is due to the Master Mason of the south porch who did include three musicians on his side of the church 20 years earlier.
1381 ‘I William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England, endow my newly founded College of St Mary's of Winchester in Oxford with the rectorial responsibilities for this parish church’. With these words New College took on the rectorial responsibilities of St Mary's. It was not long before the chancel of St Mary's was causing expense and in 1404 the decision was taken to pull it down and rebuild. Richard of Winchcombe was Wykeham's Master Mason at the tythe barn at Swalcliffe just down the road and he was responsible for the rebuilding of this chancel. It is said that the style of the Divinity schools in Oxford (which Winchcombe designed and partly built after Adderbury) was honed by his work on St Mary’s. The church celebrated the chancel’s 600th birthday in 2018. The new chancel was built in the perpendicular style and higher than the rest of the building, which led presumably soon after to the building of the clerestory in the church.
The prismatory - the combination of the piscina and the sedilia - is a wonderful example of a skilled mason’s work, worthy of a cathedral. So the church now had the three variations in English Gothic architecture – early English, decorated and perpendicular. The rest of the story is less good. Around 1535 the Reformation saw the destruction of the statues in the reredos. In 1770 there was a dispute between the vicar and Sir George Cobb who held the stewardship of the church. Sir George won and the windows in the chancel were walled up with stone from a nearby dog kennel. Eight years later the mediaeval tracery and glass in the main body of the church was destroyed on the orders of the churchwardens, presumably because work needed to be done on the windows and there was no money available. As an aside, it was not only inanimate objects that were being pulled down for in 1645, in the Civil War, the poor vicar, a rather fat prelate, William Oldys, an ardent royalist, was pursued, shot and killed on his doorstep by a Roundhead soldier.
1831 saw the first recorded restoration in the chancel windows and in 1866 Sir Gilbert Scott restored the nave, aisles and south transept. He also replaced the plain tracery in the nave and aisle windows replicating the designs in Bloxham church. In 1885 Gilbert Scott’s son Oldrid oversaw a major restoration and in 1891 Canon Payne with several parishioners donated sufficient money to replace the empty niches in the reredos.
