At the meeting of Council on 9 February a sum of £56,000 was awarded to 7 churches.

The largest of these grants went to Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry. This Grade II church designed by George Gilbert Scott was awarded the sum of £11,000 to facilitate refurbishment work in the main area of the church.  This work precedes a major project scheduled for 2022 when a new extension will be built on the North Aisle, providing community space for the congregation.

St Leonard Church, Waterstock (Grade II*) restored in 1858 by G E Street was described by Pevsner as ‘one of his most sensitive restorations.’  A sum of £9,000 was awarded for Phase 2 of a programme of works to stabilize and repair the building.

St Laurence Church, Warborough (Grade II*) has its origins in the C13 and was restored by Bodley and Garner in 1881. A sum of £8,000 was awarded for Phase 1 of a significant repair programme on the C17 tower and east end of the chancel.

Four churches each received a grant of £7,000 for repairs resulting from the ingress of water and the failure of drainage systems: All Saints, Middleton Stoney (Grade II*) for roof, rainwater pipes and guttering repairs. A C12 church restored and rebuilt in 1858 by SS Teulon and in 1868 by G E Street; SS Peter and Paul, Swalcliffe (Grade I) to facilitate drainage works. Dating from Saxon times and endowed by the Bishop of Winchester in the C14.; Holy Trinity Church, West Hendred (Grade I) for repairs to the North Aisle timbers of the roof. A C14 building little restored over the years and admired by both Pevsner and Betjeman; SS Peter, Aston Rowant (Grade II*) for extensive repairs to stonework, rainwater goods and drainage channels around the building. The church has Norman origins and was restored in 1884 by EG Bruton.

Council noted that an Emergency Grant of £3,400 had been awarded to St Peter’s Church, Cassington (Grade I) for urgent roof repairs. A Norman church paid for by Geoffrey de Clinton, treasurer to Henry I, with C14 and C15 alterations.