Cropredy : St Mary Virgin

Cropredy’s great treasure is the very rare pre-Reformation Brass Lectern in the form of an eagle. St Mary’s was largely rebuilt in the first half of the 14th century in typical Decorated style with tall and elegant arcades in both aisles.

About this church

Cropredy is a large village situated on the River Cherwell four miles north of Banbury, and holds a popular annual music festival there every summer. The church is hard to find down a narrow lane in the centre of the village.

In addition to the aisle windows, there are good clerestory and other windows of the 13th and 14th centuries.

The very rare Brass Lectern, probably 15th century, was hidden in the river during the Civil War and recovered years later. The hole in the beak is thought to be for Peter’s pence.

There are few memorials, but one to note is to Richard Crossman,the MP and Diary writer, who lived at the Manor and died in 1974.

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