St Giles' Church, Tetsworth
The present church of St. Giles in Tetsworth, which was entirely rebuilt in 1855, is a stone building consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle with tower and spire rising over the south porch, and north vestry. The smaller medieval church which it replaced is stated to have contained some long-and-short work of Anglo-Saxon date in the north-west corner, but the main structure dated from the early 12th century. It consisted of a single nave and chancel, separated by a Romanesque arch, plain and very narrow. The round arch of the south doorway had an elaborate inner moulding. Its tympanum was carved with the figures of a bishop, in pontificals with a crozier in his left hand and giving a benediction with his right hand, and of a priest holding in his left hand an open book and pointing with his right hand to the pascal lamb and banner within a nimbus. The north doorway, destroyed in 1855, was of the same age and character, but simpler in design. There was also a window of the same period in the north wall of the chancel, and a Romanesque piscina which were destroyed at the same time. The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century. The three-light east window and the three single lancets in the south wall shown in early 19th-century drawings were of the period. The steeply pitched roof of the chancel was raised to a higher level than that of the nave. In the 15th century windows were inserted in the nave, two in the south wall, and perhaps the same number in the north wall. G. E. Street described their architecture in 1851 as more elaborate than those proposed for the new church. The south porch made of oak was also of this period; the square wooden belfry of the dove-cot type, which was in existence in the 19th century was of uncertain date. Almost no record has survived of work done to the fabric after the Reformation until the 19thcentury rebuilding. It is recorded that the chancel windows were out of repair in 1681. Between 1708 and 1713 church rates of more than normal amount were raised and repairs were presumably carried out. The church appears to have been in good condition when Rawlinson visited it in 1718: his only comment on the building was that it was 'very ordinary'. During the incumbency of John W. Peers plans for a new church were considered. The diocesan architect, G. E. Street, reported in 1851 that portions of the fabric of the old church were 'of very considerable merit, and in good preservation' and that the chancel was 'very perfect'. He thought it 'very inadvisable' to allow their destruction. In spite of attempts by the bishop to save the church it was decided to rebuild on the same site. The architect was John Billing of Reading; the cost was £2,250. The building was consecrated by Bishop Wilberforce in 1855. The design of the new church was in the Early English style; it has been little altered since and remains a characteristic example of Victorian church building. It figures in the background of a contemporary oil painting of the Revd. J. W. Peers and his family. ll the interior fittings were replaced at the restoration, including the pulpit installed in 1626, and the old pews with doors. Prayer were painted on the east wall of the chancel. An organ was installed in 1877 and a new heating system in 1922; choir desks were presented by S. A. Fane in 1924; and electric light was installed in 1936. During the restoration many medieval and later memorial inscriptions and all the heraldic glass were destroyed. The glass included the arms of Adrian de Bardis, Prebendary of Thame, in the chancel, and the arms of Peppard of Lachford (Great Haseley) and of Doyley in other windows. Drawings of these were made by F. G. Lee and also of a fragment of an early medieval monumental slab with a floriated cross. The early 16th-century brass effigies of John Gryning, his wife Alys, and their three children were once in the nave. Another ancient brass in the chancel had gone by the early 19th century. There were also memorials to Francis Fosset, senior (d. 1705), and to his wife Mary (d. 1702); to two infants (d. 1708) of Christopher Newell, clerk, and his wife Ann; and to Ann (d. 1773), daughter of Richard Hobday. In 1958 there were several memorials to the Cozens family: (1) Thomas (d. 1789) and his wife Esther (d. 1806) and Thomas (d. 1834); (2) Robert (d. 1797); (3) John (d. 1879) and his wife Charlotte (1860) and their daughter (d. 1903); (4) Ellen (d. 1915), widow of John Cozens, and Mary Cozens (d. 1920). There were also tablets to J. W. Peers (vicar 1841–76) erected by the parishioners; to W. J. R. Latham, killed in France in 1918; and a stained glass window at the east end to A. E. Hutt (d. 1923), who was people's warden for 33 years. It was designed by Lawrence Willis of London. In 1552 the church was poorly furnished with only a chalice and a surplice. In 1958 it had a pewter paten, flagon, and alms-plate, dating from the 18th century, and a silver chalice of 1842. In 1552 there were only three bells, but in 1718 there were five small bells all 'not above 160 lb. weight' according to Rawlinson. Later in the century there were said to be six bells, as there were in 1853. In 1958 there was still a ring of six, which had been recast in 1936 by Mears and Stainbank in their Whitechapel foundry. Three of these had been cast in 1695 by Richard Keene, a fourth in 1702 and the tenor, though 'broken' in 1683, does not appear to have been recast until 1787 and then largely through the generosity of William Hobday. The treble was provided in 1853. The registers date from 1604 for baptisms, 1625 for marriages, and 1653 for burials. The churchwardens' accounts begin in 1833. Historical information about St. Giles' Church is provided by 'Parishes: Tetsworth', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 147-160. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp147-160 [accessed 30 March 2023]. St. Giles' Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST GILES, Tetsworth - 1059662 | Historic England. For more information about St. Giles' Church see Parishes: Tetsworth | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
