St. Bartholomew's Church, Nettlebed
Little survives of the medieval church in Nettlebed as St. Bartholomew's Church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1845–6. The base of the present tower (now rendered) may retain some 12th-century stonework, and a Norman tub font (in the churchyard) is probably original. An illustration made before rebuilding (Fig. 83) shows a two-bayed chancel and a three-bayed nave with dormer windows and a gabled south porch. The two-storey west tower was crenellated and topped by a low pyramidal steeple noticed by Karl Moritz. The interior had 'few decorations', save for the ten commandments written 'in large letters' on two tables above the altar. Carved poppy heads on some pew ends were among the little furniture that survived the rebuilding. By 1845 the building (apart from the tower) was said to be beyond repair, and it was pulled down and rebuilt on a larger scale. The cost of £2,634 was met by donations, collections, and a small grant. The replacement was designed in 'prosaic' 13th-century style by J.H. Hakewill of London, and is a plain structure of grey and red brick, with stone dressings and slate roofs. It includes a twobayed chancel and a four-bayed nave, with south aisle and gabled south porch; the three-storey tower with crenellated parapet is built within the west end of the aisle, and the vestry lies in the angle between aisle and chancel. The new south aisle may have replaced the medieval nave, with the new nave and chancel (which have separate roofs) built on its north side. A visitor in the 1880s considered it a 'miserable structure, ill kept, and in bad repair', and Pevsner observed that the cusped tracery of the windows was 'poor'. A marble pulpit in memory of J.C. Havers of Joyce Grove replaced one of oak in 1896. The lych gate was erected in 1923 as a war memorial, and a memorial window to Fleming family members killed in action was installed in 1942. Electric light replaced oil lamps in 1933, and in 1970 stained glass designed by John Piper was fitted in the east window as a memorial to a 'much respected' village doctor. A second Piper window (on the south) commemorates Peter Fleming (d. 1971). Extensive repairs in 1970 were followed in 1973 by removal of the 'incongruous organ chamber' from the vestry to a west-end gallery. Major internal improvements to the aisle and tower were undertaken in 1992, followed by repairs to the bells and clock, the costs met largely by local appeals. Historical information about St. Bartholomew's Church is provided by 'Nettlebed', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 18, ed. Simon Townley (Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2016), pp. 275-302. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol18/pp275-302 [accessed 27 March 2023]. St. Bartholomew's Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW, Nettlebed - 1369329 | Historic England. For more information about St. Bartholomew's Church see Nettlebed | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
