St. Helen's Church, Tiddington and Albury

Ambrosden church

The old St. Helen's Church at Albury was demolished in 1828; it comprised a small nave and chancel with a gabled roof, with three crosses. There was a square belfry with a pyramidal roof over the chancel arch. It had two Romanesque doorways, and a 14th-century east window. The present Romanesque font with zigzag ornament is the only relic of the building. The existing church was built in the Perpendicular style by Thomas Rickman in 1830, at the Earl of Abingdon's expense. It comprises a nave, chancel, gallery, and bell-cote. A vestry was added in 1892 and a rood screen in 1917. The interior is fitted with oak benches. In 1953 it was lit with oil lamps and candles. 

The Edwardian inventory of 1552 shows that the church was poorly furnished with one little chalice and silver paten, one vestment of 'whit chamlet', and one of 'black sey'. The church was allowed to keep its chalice; the present chalice, of which the bowl was renewed in 1665, is Elizabethan. The modern plate also includes a silver paten cover (1682), given by the rector William Moor, a handsome silver flagon (1631), and a beautiful silver two-handled porringer (1674). 

In 1552 the church had two bells; of the two present bells, one dates from 1686 and is the work of Richard Green, while the other is 18th-century and probably cast at the Aldbourne foundry. 

The registers survive from 1653, some being combined registers for the parishes of Albury, Holton, and Waterperry. They contain many entries about the Earl of Abingdon's family.

Historical information about St. Helen's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Albury (with Tiddington)', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5, Bullingdon Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1957), pp. 8-14. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol5/pp8-14 [accessed 30 March 2023].

St. Helen's Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST HELEN, Tiddington-with-Albury - 1047466 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Helen's Church see Parishes: Albury (with Tiddington) | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).