At the meeting of Council on 8 June a sum of £91,800 was awarded to 14 churches.
The largest of these grants went to Hook Norton Baptist Chapel and has been designated our second David Booth Grant to honour the memory of this generous donor. This Grade II building dating from 1786 retains its fine Georgian proportions but needs considerable repair and restoration both inside and out. The grant of £25,000 covers urgent work to resolve damp and water ingress.
In the heart of Cowley, the church of St James Cowley (Grade II), was awarded £13,500 to fund the installation of a toilet (including connecting the building to the water mains) to be located at the rear of the church below the organ. The church almost wholly rebuilt by G E Street in 1852-5 retains some of its original Norman features.
St Martin, Bladon (Grade II) the location of the grave of Winston Churchill, received a grant of £13,000 for the renovation and restoration of its 1908 Norman & Beard organ.
St Mary, Bloxham (Grade I) received a grant of £12,000 to install a heating upgrade. This is another church renovated by G E Street but it retains many of its earlier features, including the C15 Milcombe Chapel. It also has some fine stained-glass windows by Morris and Burne Jones.
St Mary Magdalene, Duns Tew (Grade II) received a grant of £6,000 for repairs to their Clayton & Bell windows and restoration repairs to the tower. The church is a fine Victorian restoration of a medieval church by the celebrated architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78)
St Nicholas, Rotherfield Greys (Grade II*) received a grant of £5,300 to facilitate the renovation of the church organ. This small aisleless village church with timber bellcote was almost entirely rebuilt in the Victorian era, except for the Jacobean chapel with the magnificent Knollys family tomb.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Beckley (Grade I) received a grant of £5,000 for repairs to the North roof of the chancel. This medieval church contains a number of wall paintings and an unusual stone lectern.
Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Wroxton (Grade II) received a grant of £4,000 will facilitate a complete rethatch of the church roof. This is the only thatched church in Oxfordshire and one of very few in the country.
Rose Hill Methodist Chapel, Oxford received a grant of £3,000 for window repairs and ceiling work. This small Victorian chapel dates from 1835.
St Olave, Fritwell (Grade II*) received an emergency grant of £1,500 to deal with falling plaster from the main ceiling of the nave and chancel. This Norman church was much altered by G E Street in 1865.
Holy Trinity, Sibford Gower (Grade II), a Victorian church built in the Early English Style received a grant of £1,500 for the repair and stabilization of its boundary wall.
Christ the King, Sonning Common, received a grant of £1,000 for the removal and replacement of the ceiling heating panels.
The Abbey of SS Peter & Paul, Dorchester (Grade I) received a grant of £1,000 for the conservation of four brasses.
Council noted that a Supplementary Grant of £500 had been awarded to St Etheldreda Church, Horley (Grade I*).
Further details can be found by going to Grants Awarded.