The Church of St. John the Baptist, Stadhampton
The church of St. John the Baptist in Stadhampton is a small stone building comprising a chancel, nave, aisles, and 18th-century western tower. The church was considerably altered in the 19th century. The circular font appears to be the only survival from the building that is known from documentary evidence to have existed in 1146. Major alterations were carried out in the early 15th century. The chancel arch was then rebuilt and a north aisle was constructed. The aisle is divided from the nave by an arcade of three arches with plainly moulded capitals. It has an early Perpendicular window of two lights at the east end. The windows in the north wall, which have square heads on the external wall, were perhaps inserted later in the 15th century. The north door is now not used. There is a record that the church was restored in 1588, and the chancel appears to have been rebuilt early in the 17th century. The priest's door of this period remains, but the windows were altered in the 19th century. The date 1600, cut on the southeast quoin, may possibly commemorate this reconstruction. Presentments at the peculiar court show that the fabric continued to give trouble. In 1623 the belfry, perhaps a wooden one at that period, was reported out of repair, and in 1626 the churchwardens were presented for leaving the pavement of the church in decay. Much interest was taken at this time in the interior furnishings of the church. A reading-desk—inscribed I.P. 1611—and a pulpit were installed. New pews were made in 1636, three years after Sir Robert Dormer of Ascot had been given permission to build a pew for his family under the pulpit 'at his own proper cost'. The church was probably beautified or repaired after the Restoration, for the date 1663 was at one time inscribed in plaster in the gable of the north aisle. By 1721 the condition of the tower was serious and in 1727 the churchwardens petitioned to be allowed a 'competent' time in which to repair or rebuild it. It was finally rebuilt, with money raised by subscriptions from the parishioners, by Richard Belcher, a mason of Little Milton. Delafield, writing in about 1740, says that Belcher cut his initials on a stone on the east side of the tower with the date 1731. As it was presented in court that the tower was still out of repair in 1736, it is probable that it was rebuilt in 1737 and that Delafield mis-read the date. It is not shown in Buckler's drawing, and there was no trace in 1958 of the date or initials. The tower is of two stages and is ornamented with urns at each of its four corners. The original west doorway was altered in 1875. The seating accommodation was increased about the same date by the erection of a west gallery, presumably for the singers. The parishioners of Stadhampton, Ascot, and Brookhampton subscribed £15 for it in 1736. In 1744 a fine royal arms of Queen Elizabeth, carved in oak, was presented by the curate, John Bilstone, and hung over the chancel arch. The arms are blazoned and the supporters, a lion and a dragon, are painted 'in their proper colours'. Beneath is the legend, 'Reginae erunt nutrices tuae, Isai. 49: 23.' In the 19th century the arms were removed to the tower arch. Minor deficiencies were reported in the second half of the century. In 1750 the chancel floor was out of repair; in 1746 the windows, and the patron, Charles Peers, was asked to mend them. Both were again in need of repair in 1790. In 1809 the roof was mended. In 1875, however, the state of the fabric and the need to enlarge the church led to a 'thorough' restoration at a cost of £1,309. The architect was E. G. Bruton of Oxford. A drawing of 1821 by Buckler shows that the church then comprised a medieval chancel, nave, and north aisle, and the 18th-century western tower. At the restoration the ritual chancel was extended 'some ten feet further west' by placing the choir stalls, pulpit, &c. in the east bay of the nave. A new east window was inserted and the other chancel windows were restored. A small arch was added at the east end of the north arcade to make room for an organ. A completely new south aisle was built, and the whole church reroofed. The 17th-century pulpit and reading desk and the old box pews were removed. So no doubt was the west gallery for the singers and the raised large pew in the north aisle, which Parker thought much disfigured the church. New fittings, reading desk, and pews of pitchpine were substituted. The ten commandments, painted on two boards, were placed on the east wall. The 'remarkably sweet toned' organ, made by a former curate, was replaced. In 1882 the chancel was provided with new panelling and a reredos. The last has since been removed and the panelling has been concealed by velvet curtains. In 1924 a faculty to place a cross and candlesticks on the altar was granted. A legacy of £200 left by Mrs. Ellen Lyon was spent in 1910 on a clock for the tower. Electric light and heating were installed in 1933 and 1951 respectively. There are several brasses (now on the north and east walls of the north aisle): one to John Wylmot (d. 1498) and his wife Anne; another to John Wylmot the younger (d. 1508) and his wife Alys; two to twelve children, apparently Wylmots, but it is not clear to which family they belong; and one to another child, Dorothy Clarke (d. 1654), whose mother was a Doyley. There is a large black marble floor slab behind the altar to Sir John (d. 1709) and Margaret Doyley (d. 1706/7). It bears the arms of Doyley impaling Cholmondely. In the chancel is a marble tablet, signed Henry Westmacott, London, to Sarah Beavis (d. 1783), relict of Arthur Beavis and daughter of Sir Charles Peers. It bears the arms of Beavis impaling Peers. In the tower there are two large marble wall tablets. One to John Eels (d. 1755), a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, was erected by his nephew James Jones, the son of Ann (d. 1791) and James Jones (d. 1767) of Wrexham, both buried at Stadhampton to whom Eels left his estate. The other one is to Ann, wife of Charles Edward Jones of Great Milton (d. 1784). An old parish chest remains in the church. In 1552 there was a chalice and paten of silver gilt, a brass pix, cross, and two candlesticks, and various vestments and altar cloths. The present plate consists of a chalice dated 1712 and inscribed Thomas Wise and Edward Winter, Churchwardens 1713; a pewter flagon of 1840 and two pewter dishes. In 1552 the church had three bells. A complete new ring of four was cast in 1621 by Henry Knight. Of these two remain but the other two existing bells were cast in 1883 and 1884 by Mears and Stainbank of London. There is a stone cross in the churchyard, a memorial to the dead in the two World Wars. It was originally designed by H. S. Rogers of Oxford and was erected in about 1920. The earliest register dates from 1567. There is a gap between 1618 and 1627 and until 1762 Chislehampton entries are included. Bilstone made three copies for the years 1567–1762, one for Stadhampton and two for Chislehampton. Historical information about The Church of St. John the Baptist is provided by 'Parishes: Stadhampton', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 81-92. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp81-92 [accessed 30 March 2023]. The Church of St. John the Baptist is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, Stadhampton - 1193931 | Historic England. For more information about The Church of St. John the Baptist see Parishes: Stadhampton | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
