St. James' Church, Little Milton
St. James' Church at Little Milton was built in 1843–4 on land given by Walter Long, lord of Great and Little Milton manors. It is in the Decorated style and comprises a chancel, nave, vestry, western tower, and south porch. It has a barrel-shaped wooden roof. The architect was John Hayward of Exeter and the builder George Wyatt of Oxford. Unlike the design of many later churches that were influenced by the Tractarian movement, the entrance to the pulpit was directly from the vestry and not from the chancel. The Lord's Prayer and the Commandments are inscribed on stone on either side of the altar. The cost of £1,500 was met by private subscription and a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society. In 1861 a faculty was granted to add an embattled tower with spirelets and a clock. The cost was met from a bequest of £1,200 for this purpose made by Mrs. Catherine Grayson, widow of Anthony Grayson, Principal of St. Edmund Hall. The architect was again John Hayward. In 1958 after one of the spirelets had fallen down the remaining ones were taken down by Simm & Co. of Oxford, and the parapet was repaired at a cost of £280. In 1901 an oak reredos and pulpit, executed by H. Hems of Exeter, were given in memory of Capt. E. P. Wardlaw (killed 1901); a heating apparatus was installed in 1914; in 1947 the bells were rehung and electric lighting was installed. In 1854 painted glass was placed in the east window and in two windows in the nave; one of the latter was in memory of Catherine Grayson (d. 1853). In 1869 a third window was installed to Edith M. Sawyer. The west window is in memory of Edward L. Franklin of Ascot (d. 1869). There are two memorial brasses to those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The medieval piscina, now in the sanctuary, is the one found in 'Chapel Heys', the site of the medieval chapel of St. James that once served Little Milton. The church possesses an early Victorian silver chalice with paten and an alms-dish. There is a ring of six bells, all by Mears and Stainbank and dated 1867, and a sanctus bell of 1832. The registers date from 1844. Historical information about St. James' 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. James' Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Little Milton - 1369190 | Historic England. For more information about St. James' Church see Parishes: Great Milton | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
