September Church Tour to Otmoor

This year’s September tour, to three medieval village churches on Otmoor and a 20th-century town church at the edge of Oxford, has been devised and will be led by Elizabeth Knowles with help from Hilary CakebreadHall.

We shall start at St Mary the Virgin, Charlton-on-Otmoor where we shall gather from 10:15 for a coffee.  This church and our second of the morning, St Andrew’s Oddington, both date from the 14th and 15th centuries.  Having seen these two churches, we shall move for lunch to the Abingdon Arms at Beckley, after which we’ll see the Church of the Assumption of the BVM at Beckley.  Dating from Romanesque times but now largely 14th/15th-century, this church boasts fine wall-paintings and some medieval stained glass.  Our fourth and final visit for the day will be to the only example in the county of a church by N. F. Cachemaille-Day (1896-1976), St Mary’s, Barton.

The four churches are close to each other, and so driving distances will be minimal: route instructions will be circulated in the week before the tour.