St Mary's Church, Pyrton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, Pyrton
St Mary's parish church from the southeast
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OS grid reference	SU687957
Location	Pyrton, Oxfordshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	St Mary, Pyrton
History
Status	parish church
Consecrated	1856
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	18 June 1963
Architect(s)	J. C. Buckler
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Gothic Revival
Completed	1856
Specifications
Materials	Flint with limestone dressings tile roof
Administration
Parish	Pyrton and Shirburn
Deanery	Aston and Cuddesdon
Archdeaconry	Oxford
Diocese	Oxford
Province	Canterbury

St Mary's Church is an old Church of England church in Pyrton, Oxfordshire, England. It is a parish church, which means it serves the local community. The church is a very important historic building. It is listed as a Grade II* building, showing its special value.

History of St Mary's Church

Records show there was a church here as early as 887, over 1100 years ago! Around 1115, a powerful lord named William fitz Nigel gave the church to a group of Augustinian canons (a type of priest) in Runcorn.

Later, in 1134, these canons moved to Norton. The church stayed with their monastery (Norton Priory) until King Henry VIII closed down all monasteries in 1536. After that, the right to choose the church's priest was given to Christ Church, Oxford, a college in Oxford.

In 1943, this church's area (its 'parish') joined with a nearby one called Shirburn.

The church building you see today is very old, starting in the 1100s. A porch was added in the 1400s. In 1854, parts of the church, like the nave and chancel, were largely rebuilt by an architect named J. C. Buckler. He made sure to keep the original style and some old features. The nave was made a bit longer to fit more people. Later, in 1929, new heating was put in. Electric lights were added in 1939, and a new organ arrived in 1953.

Church Architecture and Design

The church is built from flint stones and limestone, with a tiled roof. It has a main body (the nave), a chancel (the area around the altar), a small room called a vestry, and a porch. At the west end, there is a small tower for bells, called a bell-cote.

Outside the Church

You can still see parts of the original Norman design from the 1100s. Look for the south doorway and the arch leading to the chancel. There's also an original window on the north wall of the nave. A similar window on the south wall was copied in Victorian times. The east window has three sections. The vestry has round-arched windows from the 1800s. The bell-cote has special windows with three leaf-like shapes at the top.

Inside the Church

Many things inside the church, like the pews (benches), the lectern (where readings are given), and the stained glass windows, are from the 1800s. Some of the stained glass was made by a famous company called Clayton and Bell in 1893.

In the south porch, you can find old medieval tiles with six different patterns. The wooden pulpit (where the priest gives sermons) is from 1636. The church also has a wooden chest from 1638. The font (used for baptisms) is from the 1100s, but its cover is from the mid-1800s.

The church has several memorials. The oldest is a stone slab in front of the altar, from around 1340, remembering a priest. It used to have brass letters. Most of the other memorials are for the Hamersley family. One of these is a brass tablet from 1929, designed by the artist Eric Gill.

The church has three bells. Two of them are very old, from 1605 and 1606. The third bell was added in 1953. The church's records, called parish registers, go all the way back to 1568!

Outside the Church Grounds

In the churchyard, there are two old stone tombs from the 1700s. These are also listed as historic buildings.