St Matthew's Church, Langford facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Matthew's Church, Langford
Parish Church of St Matthew, Langford
51°43′33.6″N 1°38′34.8″W / 51.726000°N 1.643000°W / 51.726000; -1.643000
Location	Langford, Oxfordshire GL7 3LG
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	Saint Matthew
Earlier dedication	Saint Mary
Architecture
Style	Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Early English Gothic, Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic
Administration
Parish	Langford St Matthew, including Grafton and Radcot, Langford
Deanery	Witney
Archdeaconry	Oxford
Diocese	Oxford
Province	Canterbury

The Parish Church of Saint Matthew, Langford is an old church in the village of Langford. It is part of the Church of England. Langford is in West Oxfordshire, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Lechlade.

A Look at the Church's History

The church started as a smaller chapel connected to a bigger church in Bampton. Later, Langford's church became more important. It even had its own smaller chapels in nearby places like Grafton and Radcot. These smaller chapels are gone now, but Grafton and Radcot are still part of Langford's church area.

The church was first dedicated to Saint Mary. Later, it was rededicated to its current saint, Saint Matthew.

Today, St. Matthew's Church is part of a group of churches called the Benefice of Shill Valley and Broadshire. This group includes churches in several nearby villages.

The Oldest Parts: Anglo-Saxon Building

A stone carving of Christ, possibly from the 8th century, found on the south porch. Its head is missing.

A 10th-century stone carving of Christ, Saint Mary, and Saint John on the south porch.

Old windows and carvings on the south wall of the tower, from the 11th century.

The oldest parts of St. Matthew's Church are the bell tower and the main hall, called the nave. These parts were built in the late 1000s. This was just after the Norman conquest of England, but they were built by skilled Anglo-Saxon builders. These old parts are very important examples of Anglo-Saxon building in Oxfordshire.

Around the year 1200, side sections called aisles were added to the north and south. The south porch was added in the 1200s too. These additions were built in a style called Early English Gothic. The west walls of the nave and aisles have tall, narrow windows from the 1200s, called lancet windows.

The porch once had two floors. The top floor is gone, but you can still see where its doorway was and the outline of its stairs inside the south aisle.

The porch also has two very old Anglo-Saxon stone carvings of the Crucifixion. We don't know where they were originally placed. One carving, from the 700s, has lost its head. The other, from the 900s, shows Christ, Saint Mary, and Saint John the Evangelist. Interestingly, Christ's arms were swapped when it was put together!

Later Changes and Additions

In the 1200s, the chancel (the area around the altar) was rebuilt. It was made wider and taller. You can still see the line of the older 11th-century roof against the tower wall. The chancel windows have a very unusual diamond shape at the top.

The church also has a special cupboard called an aumbry in the chancel. It has six sections under three pointed tops. This fancy design suggests that Langford was a wealthy parish back then.

Many of the windows in the north and south aisles were changed in the 1300s or 1400s. They were updated to the Decorated Gothic or Perpendicular Gothic styles. The church's font, used for baptisms, is from the 1400s.

In 1574, two flying buttresses were added to the north side of the church. These are supports that help hold up the walls. One of them has a carving that tells us the exact date it was built during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Tall, round decorations were also added to the west end of the nave in the 1500s.

The pulpit, where sermons are given, was made in 1673. It is in the Jacobean style. An old clock was put in during the late 1600s, but it no longer works and is now just on display.

Keeping the Church Strong: Restoration Work

Over the years, the church has been repaired and looked after. In 1829, an architect named Richard Pace helped restore the building. More repairs happened in 1849.

In 1864, another architect, Ewan Christian, worked on the nave roof. He brought it back to its original steep shape.

Today, St. Matthew's Church is a Grade I listed building. This means it is a very important historical building and is protected.

The Church Bells

The tower has a set of six bells. Four of these bells were made in 1741 by Henry III Bagley. He had a bell-making workshop in Witney at the time. The two largest and smallest bells were made much later, in 1953, by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Images for kids

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  11th century tower arches and 12th or 13th century west window

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  East wall of 11th century tower showing the line of the former 11th century roof inside the 13th century chancel

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  Norman north doorway of nave, circa 1200

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  West view of church showing Early English lancet windows and tall 16th century pinnacles

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  Blocked doorway and outline of former stair to former upper room of porch, probably 13th century

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  13th century aumbry in the chancel

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  14th century window in south aisle of nave with three lights, ogee tracery and cusped rere-arch

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  15th century font

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  Elizabethan flying buttresses supporting the north wall of the north aisle

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  Inscription dating the buttresses to 1574

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  17th century Jacobean pulpit

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  Wooden plaque recording a grant from the Incorporated Society for Building and Churches, dated 1867