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The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Great Milton comprises a Chancel, Nave, North and South-aisles, South Porch with Parvise above, and a Western Tower.  In the main, it dates from the 14th century, but there are considerable survivals from earlier Periods. The earliest parts of the structure belong to a 12th century Building, which is likely to have consisted of Chancel and Nave only.  Of this Church one deeply splayed window survives in the North Wall of the chancel and the outlines of 2 blocked-up windows can be seen in the Spandrels of the North Arcade in the Nave.

Early in the 13th century the Chancel Arch was rebuilt and the Chancel may have been extended to its present size, though this enlargement probably did not take place until the following century.  An original Lancet window still survives in the South Wall. The Nave was enlarged by the addition of Aisles, perhaps of about half the width of the present Aisles.  They are divided from the Nave by Arcades each of 3 Arches. These Arcades exhibit certain peculiarities whose significance in the Architectural History of the Church is not clear.  The circular Columns are irregularly spaced, and the Western Arch of the Southern Arcade lacks the mouldings of its fellows.  In addition the mouldings immediately above the Capitals of the Eastern Column of both North and South arcades are interrupted on the sides facing the Aisles in a manner which is difficult to explain.  Both Arcades appear, however, to be more or less contemporary, for, with the exception mentioned above, the mouldings of their Arches correspond to those of the Chancel Arch with one additional member.  It is likely that the richly moulded Early English North doorway, which is certainly not in its original position, was once the 13th-century South Door.

It is probable that the 13th-century building was severely damaged by Fire, for all the cut Stone moved at the time of the restoration of 1850 was found to have Early English moulding on the inside and fresh moulding cut on the reverse side to match the Decorated work of the 14th century.  Every Early English Stone found had been burnt.

In the early 14th century the Church was largely rebuilt, the material of the old building being reused.  The Aisles were widened and new windows with ‘Decorated’ Tracery were inserted.  The East window and 4 two-light windows were inserted in the enlarged Chancel;  the Nave walls were raised and a Clerestory of 6 quatrefoil lights added.  A new South door, a vaulted South Porch with a carved Boss, the Room over it, and a Staircase Turret were built.  The Buttresses on this side of the Church are of the same Period; they are ornamented with Niches surrounded by Crocketed Canopies and Finials; a Parapet with Gargoyles runs above.  In the South Aisle there is a 19th-century copy of the original 14th-century Piscina.  Perpendicular windows were added in the late 14th or early 15th century, one over the Chancel Arch and the other at the east end of the Clerestory on the South side.  Patterned Tiles, of which some have been assembled by the present Chancel Curb, were laid down in the Chancel.  A Corbel in the South Aisle with the Arms of Camoys (Lords of the Manor in the Reign of Henry V) may give a clue to the date of its Roof.

The present Tower and Tower-arch were built towards the end of the 14th century.  The Tower is of 3 Stages with deeply projecting angle Buttresses.  The Papal Indulgence of 1398 Granted to all who visited or gave Alms for the Conservation of Milton Church may have been connected with these additions.

The roof of the Nave was restored or rebuilt in 1592, the date being carved on the Easternmost Tie-beam over the Chancel-Arch. The Chancel Roof also appears to have been renewed in the 16th century. Parker dated it as late as the Reigns of Mary or Elizabeth I: it had short King-posts and Tie-beams resting on plain chamfered Corbels.  There is no record of any work done to the Fabric during the 17th century and little for the 18th.  The ‘inside of the church was much out of repair‘ in 1714, the ‘sentences‘ were worn out and the ‘Church defaced‘, and arrangements were made for repairs.  The date 1735 carved on a Beam in the South Aisle probably indicates some repairs to the Roof executed at that date.  The Rood Screen with turned Balusters dividing the Nave from the Chancel and the Box Pews, both of which are depicted in a pre-restoration print of the interior of the Church, were installed after the Reformation.  At some date, in the 18th century the West Gallery, which is traditionally said to have been built out of the profits of a Whitsun Ale, was probably erected.  It was presumably removed at the restoration.

By 1850 the Church was in need of drastic repair.  It was restored at a cost of over £2,000 under the direction of Gilbert Scott.  G Wyatt of Oxford was employed as Builder.  The Roofs of Nave, Aisles, and Tower were newly boarded and in parts releaded; the Chancel Roof was entirely renewed and the East End of the Chancel rebuilt.  The Church was underpinned all round and an open Gutter laid.  The Rood Stairs, the Sedilia, Piscina, and Aumbry were opened up and the Piscina in the South Aisle was reconstructed.   An Aperture was discovered in the North Wall of the Chancel, containing what is thought to have been an Acoustic Jar.  The Church was repewed in Oak, and new Choir Stalls, copied from those in Dorchester Abbey, were made.

A number of changes have been introduced since the restoration.  In 1860 the Dormer monument (see below) was moved from the south aisle and the vestry there was ‘taken down’ in order that the space made might be used for pews for the children of the parish school.  Both monument and vestry were placed beneath the tower at the west end.

Substantial repairs were undertaken in 1926 at a cost of £600.  The Roof was thoroughly restored and other repairs to the Fabric were effected. The Architect was H Bradfield of Great Milton.  In 1927 the Rev A P Pott paid for the addition of a Vestry at the West end of the North Aisle.   In 1933 Electric Light in accordance with the design of the Architect H. Grayson of Great Milton was installed. The church had previously been lit by oil and candles.

During 1955–6 repairs to the Stonework included a new Cross over the East Gable to replace the one provided in 1850 as a copy of the Medieval Cross, and also the repair of the external Stonework of some of the windows.

Some Wall paintings were discovered at the restoration of 1850, but were obliterated.  Traces of one remain over the Doorway of the South Porch.  A few small fragments of Medieval Glass have also survived in 3 of the Windows of the South Aisle, and in the East window of the North Aisle there are 2 Quatrefoil lights that are said to illustrate the Parable of Dives and Lazarus.  Of modern painted glass that in the East window is by T Willement (inserted in 1850), that at the West end of the South Aisle by Castell, and in 1868 glass by O’Connor was inserted in the West window of the North Aisle to the memory of A M Ellis.  In 1915 a Memorial Window to Margaret A Sawyer, designed by Heaton, Butler, & Bayne, was placed at the East end of this Aisle.  Another to Charles Harris Rowles (d.1947) and his wife Bertha (d.1954) in the South Aisle was made by M Farrer Bell.

Of the Furnishings of the Medieval Church, the broken pieces of a Portable Altar of Purbeck Marble, found at the restoration of 1850, were incorporated in 1913 in the Altar Table placed in the Lady Chapel in the North Aisle; some 15th-century carved Bench ends, now in the Choir, were preserved at the same time. One has a representation of 2 cruets, chalice, and wafer. The Jacobean Pulpit was a Bequest to the Church made by Thomas Parsons (d.1640); before the restoration it stood in the angle of the North Arcade and the Chancel Arch.  Another 17th-century addition was the Clock by Nicholas Harris, which was installed in the Tower in 1699.  In 1860 an Organ was ingeniously disposed, part North and part South of the deep Respond of the South Arcade of the Nave; in 1875 a Reredos designed by Arthur Blomfield was erected; in 1889 a Brass Lectern was presented in Memory of Alexander and Elizabeth A Sheppard.  Two Brass Standards with branching Candelabra, now on either side of the Altar, were acquired to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897.  In the next Century 6 Brass Sconces were placed in the Chancel to the memory of Emily Lovell (d.1918).

In 1940 Oak Rails designed by H S Rogers of Oxford replaced the Rails of Oak, Brass, and Iron which had in their turn replaced between 1862 and 1864 the Oak Rails designed by Gilbert Scott.

In 1958, owing to the initiative of the Vicar, the Rev E P Baker, the Royal Arms of Elizabeth II were hung over the North Door.  Panels of the Creed and Lord’s Prayer were hung on either side of the East window to replace those removed in the last Quarter of the 19th century.  The Ten Commandments were painted on the Spandrels of the Chancel Arch to replace those painted there in 1850, which were expunged in about 1932.  All this work was done under the direction of E Clive Rouse and executed by Miss J T Lenton.

A Key-bugle and an Ophicleide, formerly played in the Church Choir, are preserved with some Constables’ Truncheons in the South Aisle. The Helm, Sword, and Orle of Sir Michael Dormer (d.1624), and 2 Pikes provided for the Village’s Home Guard in WW2 are under the Tower.

The earliest Monuments in the Church are the 2 Sepulchral Slabs with Floriated Crosses in relief dating from the 13th century.  They were once in the Chancel but were removed at the restoration of 1850 to the North Aisle.  Also in the North Aisle are 2 fragments of a Medieval Effigy which may derive from the Monument of Sir Richard de Louches (d. c. 1320–5) and his wife Elena Wace that was seen by Leland.  The only Medieval Brasses in the Church are to the 4 children of Robert and Katherine Eggerley. Two of the 4 figures, 3 of the 4 Shields (the 4th has been recently lost), and the Inscription remain.  The elaborate Tomb of Sir Michael Dormer was placed in 1618, during his lifetime, at the East End of the South Aisle, where traces of the Railing which fenced it off can still be seen.  The Effigies of Sir Michael and Lady Dormer lie on an Alabaster Base and supported on a higher level between them lies that of Ambrose Dormer, Sir Michael’s father.  At the East end of the Base an Alabaster Panel displays in relief a scene of Sir Michael Dormer engaged in the Spanish Wars.  Inscriptions recording the lives of the 2 Dormers and Shields of many Quarterings also adorn the Base.  The Monument has been attributed both to Gerard Christmas and to Epiphonius Evesham.  It was restored, cleaned, and repainted in 1956 under the direction of E Clive Rouse.

There are Mural Tablets to Elizabeth Wilkinson (d.1654), wife of Henry Wilkinson, Principal of Magdalen Hall; Joan (d.1695), wife of Adolphus Meetkerke; John Smith (d. 1699); William Eldridge (d.1716); Richard Cornish (Vicar, d.1729); the Rev Francis Astry (d.1754); John Blackall, Gentleman (d.1755); Francis Jemmett, Esq (d.1784) and his wife Mary (d.1782) by John Osborne, Oxford; and Capt Lancelot Kerby Edwards (d. 1867).  The 1st 2 Tablets mentioned were in the Chancel until 1875.  Among the many inscriptions on the Floor of the Church the following may be mentioned; John Yong, Esq (d.1642/3); Mr Thomas Yong (bur.1692/3); Charles Hawkins (d.1691/2); Anna, wife of William Loe (d.1681); John Skynner (d.1729) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1769); William Loe (d.1754); John Reeve (d.1757); William Pease, Vicar (d.1781); William Skynner (d. 1794); Sir John Skynner, Chief Baron of the Exchequer (d.1805); Paul Wells (d.1805); Thomas Ellis, Vicar (d.1848).  There is a Board giving details of Couling’s Charity and commemorating Charles Robey Couling (d.1911).

In 1552 the Commissioners recorded 4 Bells and a Sanctus Bell.  In 1631 a ‘Stock’ Ring of 5 Bells was supplied by Ellis Knight.  In 1679 the Churchwardens reported that the ‘Great Bell’ was broken.  In 1684 the Bells were again ‘in good repair‘.   Two were recast in 1673 by Ellis & Henry Knight and 3 were recast in 1771 by Thomas Rudhall of Gloucester.  The 1958 Ring of 8 are dated 1673 (2), 1771 (3), 1772, 1848, the 8th being an undated Bell of the 17th or 18th century.  The Sanctus Bell is dated 1825.

The Church possesses some old Silver: a Silver Chalice, perhaps the one listed in the Inventory of 1552 with Paten cover (1568); a Silver Tankard Flagon and pair of Alms Plates (1764), given by Joan Smith, wife of Anthony Smith of Little Milton. There are also a Pewter Plate and Tankard with Marks of John Shorey (c.1714).

The Registers begin in 1550. There are Churchwardens’ Accounts from 1760.

Historical information about St. Mary's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Great Milton', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 117-146. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp117-146 [accessed 21 March 2023].

St. Mary's Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST MARY, Great Milton - 1369258 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Mary's Church see Parishes: Great Milton | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).