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Home :: The Churchyard :: History :: Pictures :: The famous wall paintings |
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History According to the Domesday Book, in 1087 a priest named Brun occupied land here and preached the gospel. The present church dates from the early part of the 12th Century, and was begun by monks from Bec, the important Benedictine abbey in Normandy. The interior comprises a chancel, a wide nave and two aisles north and south. The piers in the south arcade have square capitals which are a Norman feature, while those in the north arcade are round and Early English, dating from the 13th Century. The church is thought to remain substantially as it was in 1500 although some records state that there was a spire on top of the tower until it came down in a violent storm in 1727. The tower contains a single handed turret clock dated in part from 1699. The
east window in the chapel in the north aisle contains some 15th Century
blue glass, and further vestiges of early glass may be seen in each of
the three north windows in this aisle. The Wall Paintings The paintings in the chancel, dating from 1330, are a treasure both to this church and nationally. Read more >> Saint Robert French Laurence - Vicar 1832 to 1885 On 24 November 2001 at its Synod, the Diocese of Oxford launched a Calendar of Saints. It was stated that while "all Christians are called to be holy" (1 Peter 1 v 15) over the centuries the Christian Church has recognised or 'canonised' people of great holiness, sometimes by a formal process and sometimes by popular acclamation or local custom. The new Diocesan Calendar of Saints now includes the names of people who, while not being 'recognised' nationally or internationally, have a definite link with this diocese and have lived lives of holiness which have enriched the life of the church. Included on this list is Robert French Laurence who was born on 2 April 1807, the son of a surgeon. He was educated at the Merchant Taylor's School and at Christ Church Oxford. He was Vicar of St.Mary Chalgrove and of St.Helen, Berrick Salome from 1832 until his death on 23 April 1885. So 23 April is Robert French Laurence's Day in the Calendar. The entry in the Calendar records: "His was a pastoral ministry and he dedicated himself to improving the religious life and quality of life of his parishioners. He opened a school for children and taught them himself. He campaigned successfully for better cottage accommodation for agricultural labourers and their families. He endeared himself to his parishioners and by his example made many of them devout members of his congregation." He was not one to fight shy of controversy and he recorded in the Visitation Return of 1854 that his own ministry and the welfare of the church in Chalgrove was being impeded by "unpopularity arising out of an endeavour to repress gross misconduct on the part of one of the leading inhabitants, and the endeavour to prevent misappropriation of the church estate." He also noted his "want of pecuniary means to carry out measures" that he would desire! Berrick presented no impediments! Also remarkably, in 1872, he became secretary of the local branch of the National Agricultural Labourers' Union and on 2 June 1874 he not only chaired a union meeting in Chalgrove but held it on the vicarage lawn. Additionally he wrote and published pamphlets on the concerns and controversies of the day. |
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