architectural mixture of imitations - Churchill, Oxfordshire

            Church of All Saints, Churchill, Oxfordshire 
The village was originally at the foot of a hill now called Hastings Hill, but on 31 July 1684 a fire destroyed 20 houses and many other buildings , killing 4 people.   Afterwards the village was rebuilt higher up the hill, with stone houses instead of the old timber-framed and thatched cottages   
By early 19c the old 1348 church alone at the foot of the hill,  had fallen into disrepair.  
The present church was built in 1826 higher up the hill by architect James Plowman of Oxford in Georgian, Gothic revival style , commissioned & paid for by James Haughton Langston (1796–1863),, the local squire who had the living of Churchill & Sarsden, and who owned the Sarsden estate & most of Church. 
It consists of an aisleless nave , chancel & tower, and is described as an "architectural mixture of imitations"
The six stage tower is a slimmer version of Magdalen College tower, reduced by a third in size.  The nave hammer beam roof is modelled on Christ Church hall, Oxford.   The buttresses are versions of those of the chapel of New College, Oxford, and the windows are based on those from various Oxford Colleges. 

The old church chancel was retained with new east window added in 1869 by architect C C Rolle, and used as a mortuary chapel and to house the memorials.  It is now the village Heritage centre, opened in 2001  after a preservation society was formed in 1988 to safeguard it.  . 

In a restoration appeal for the tower in 1975, Sir John Betjeman wrote   "It is a beautiful landmark and has [...] been an eye-catcher for miles around, and a delightful one. I am sure it was built with this object in view.   Although the style is English Perpendicular Gothic, the Tower is in the great tradition of English landscape gardening.   Its disappearance would be a grave loss to a rolling wooded landscape".
The tower houses 8 bells  -  Robert Taylor & Sons cast the third, fourth, fifth and sixth bells in 1826 at their then bell-foundry in Oxford  Their successors John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the treble, second, seventh and tenor bells in 1957.  Robert Taylor and Sons also made the tower clock. 
External stairs to the north lead to the bell-ringers' chamber, with a pulpit at the top of the staircase.   In imitation of the May morning celebrations at Magdalen College, villagers gather at sunrise on 1 May each year and sing from the stairs and pulpit. 
A project to mark the millennium provided a meeting room and facilities at the west end which are well-used by church and community. The original balcony, which was removed in the later part of the 19c was also restored, however a fire in 2007 caused considerable damage which was repaired by 2009.  

   

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Churchill (show map)

Taken on: May 5, 2018

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