At the meeting of Council on 14th May a total of just over £218K was awarded to 19 churches. Three churches received grants exceeding £20k; six received grants under £10k. The David Booth award of £50,000 was assigned to the Wallingford Quakers Meeting House for a substantial project to modernise and enhance their premises. Additionally, emergency, supplementary, and roof alarm grants totalling £21,434 were awarded to five churches.
Wallingford Quaker Meeting House (Grade II*) received a grant of £50,000 for refurbished toilets and kitchen.
The Meeting House was built in 1724 and is a rare survivor of an earlier building, retaining its historic form and character.
St Michael in the Northgate, Oxford (Grade I) received a grant of £35,000 for tower and roof repairs.
St. Michael’s Church was built c.1000-50 in a late Anglo-Saxon style. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The church tower, the only part that survives from this date, served as part of the defensive wall at the North Gate. The church was rebuilt and a chancel was added in the 13th century. The window of the Lady Chapel was added in the 15th century. The north transept was rebuilt in 1833 by John Plowman (1773-1843). The interior was restored in 1853-4 by G.E. Street, but most of this was destroyed in a disastrous fire in 1953. The church was quickly restored in 1954.
St John the Baptist, Kidmore End (Grade II) received a grant of £35,000 for the installation of a WC and servery
The church was built in 1852 by Arthur Billing (1824-96) in the Early English Style. The vestry was added in 1894. It contains some interesting furnishings, namely a stone pulpit with a mosaic decoration by the Salviati Company and there is stained glass in the chancel windows by William Warrington (1796-1859).
St Giles, Oxford (Grade I) received a grant £16,000 for the installation of a new toilet, enlargement and refurbishment of the kitchen. This represents the first phase of a complex redevelopment in celebration of its 900th anniversary.
The church dates from the early 12th century and has been enlarged and rebuilt over the centuries. It contains a fine 13th century font and a number of interesting tombs, both inside and in the churchyard.
St Giles, Wendlebury (Grade II) received a grant of £15,000 to install a new kitchen, servery, and accessible toilet.
The church is largely an 18th century rebuild although some remnants of its earlier fabric remain. The church still has its Norman font, ancient south doorway, and altar rails from the medieval and Stuart periods.
St Andrew, Shrivenham (Grade I) received a grant of £14,000 to undertake stonework and glazing repairs
There has been a church on the site of St. Andrew’s for over 900 years and it is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Except for the 13th century tower and a small section of the west wall, the church was built during the reign of Charles I, at a time when there was very little in the way of church building taking place in England. As such, it presents a rather unusual style – a merging of late Perpendicular and Classical.
St Antony of Padua, Headington, Oxford received a grant of £10,000 for roof repairs.
The church dates from 1960 and is a relatively conventional design for the time. It contains furnishings designed by David John (1928-2023) a notable artist and sculptor. It was the parish church of J R R Tolkien. The large west crucifix was designed by Faith Tolkien.
St Mary the Virgin, North Stoke (Grade I) received a grant of £7,000 for repairs to the boundary wall.
The church was built in the 13th century and is almost entirely medieval, and still has 14th century wall paintings, ancient oak pews, and a brick floor. The Ridgeway path runs through the church yard, to either side crossing the River Thames and climbing the Chilterns.
St Mary, Broughton (Grade I) received a grant of £5,000 for the repointing of its spire and repair of the weather vane
The church was built almost entirely in the early 14th century, at the same time as Sir John de Broughton was building the adjacent castle. Inside, the chancel and nave are separated by a rare stone screen. The chancel and the wide south aisle contain a remarkable collection of effigies and monuments commemorating the owners of the castle from the 14th century to the present day. Another interesting feature is the large collection of hatchments of the Fiennes and Twisleton families from 1666 to 1847 when the custom of putting up a coat of arms of the deceased began to decline.
St Mary Magdalen, Oxford (Grade I) received a grant of £3,500 for the restoration of the Ward memorial.
The church dates from the 11th century and has undergone numerous restorations over the centuries. The earliest surviving elements are 12th century. It underwent a major restoration in 1841-2 under GG Scott and W Moffatt. The Ward Memorial is an impressive monument to the whole Ward dynasty and stands over the family vault in the churchyard.
St Michael and All Angels, Eaton Hastings (Grade II) received a grant of £2,000 for repairs to its porch
Dating from the 11th century the church consists of a simple nave, 13th century chancel and bellcote. Between 1870-73 the church underwent Victorian restoration.
It contains interesting stained glass installed in 1872 to a design by Edward Burne Jones. In 1935 Morris & Co installed a design by William Morris and Ford Madox Brown. Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon is buried in the churchyard; the angel on his tomb was sculpted by George Frampton (1860-1928).
St Mary the Virgin, Longcot (Grade II) received a grant of £2,000 for lighting improvements
The original building dates to the 13th century, with a large barn-like nave, small chancel, and an 18th century tower. Within the building there is a font which probably dates from the 13th century; a hexagonal pulpit of fine Jacobean oak work and a 1733 painting of the arms of George III. The nave was repaired in 1606 and again in 1701; other parts of the building reflect later repairs and additions,
St Bartholomew, Brightwell Baldwin (Grade I) received a grant of £1,500 for the installation of a sound system
The earliest parts of the church are 13th century, including a stair turret and several lancet windows, notably in the chancel. Early in the 14th century the nave was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, with north and south aisles linked to it by arcades of four bays. The west tower and the Perpendicular Gothic east window of the chancel were added in the 15th century. The pulpit and tester are Jacobean and therefore 17th century. The building was restored in 1895
Bampton Methodist received a grant of £1,000 for repairs to windows
The foundations of this Chapel were laid in September 1891 and the building was completed and opened on 25th March 1892.
Wallingford Baptist was awarded an emergency grant of £2,000 to deal with leaking roof and damaged slates/gutters.
The church was founded in 1794 by Robert Lovegrove. The Georgian front was added in 1821 and replicated in 1994 when the building was extended. An interesting feature is its underfloor baptistery for the immersion of believers (which is believed to drain to the ancient Town Gutter). The interior walls have memorials to the founder and his family members who are buried in brick vaults below the sanctuary floor. Some original Victorian window glass remains.
St Andrew’s, Oddington received a supplemental grant of £3,000 for repairs to the porch.
The church dates from the end of the 13th century. The 14th century chancel was demolished and rebuilt in 1821. Between 1884 and 1886 the whole was heavily restored under the direction of the architect E.G. Bruton (1826-1899) who favoured the Gothic Revival style. The bell tower and the north wall of the chancel were rebuilt, the vestry and the north aisle were added and several windows inserted.