The Church of St. Edward the Confessor, Westcott Barton


The church of St. Edward the Confessor in Westcott Barton comprises chancel, nave with south aisle and south porch, and west tower. Excavation has revealed that an earlier nave was twice extended westwards before the south aisle was added in the mid 12th century. The aisle arcadé of two arches and a tomb recess in the south wall of the aisle both date from the mid 12th century. Later in the century the chancel arch was rebuilt. In the 15th century the church was extensively remodelled. The chancel and north wall of the nave were rebuilt; new windows and a doorway were put into the south aisle; and the west tower and stair turret and south porch were added. Despite this work, the chancel was said to be in ruins c. 1520. Surviving medieval fittings include a wooden pulpit, part of the rood screen, and some of the woodwork of the south door.

In 1824 the church was reroofed. It was restored in 1855 and 1856, under the direction of G. E. Street. A western gallery, presumably erected in the 18th century, was removed, as were the 'most inconsistent' pews, and the roofs were replaced. A new font was placed at the west end of the church; the pulpit and rood screen were repaired, the screen being repainted; doors and windows were replaced. Further repairs and restoration work were carried out in 1965, and in 1977 the Victorian tile floor was removed. 

The monuments include plaques to John (d. 1768) and Elizabeth (d. 1767) Buswell, and to several members of the Marshall and Lockyer families. In the churchyard is a 15th-century tomb chest with brass indent and a late medieval cross base.

The plate includes a silver chalice with paten cover, dated 1574, a late 17th- or early 18thcentury pewter flagon, and two pewter plates of c. 1750. There are three bells, the earliest of c. 1490.

Historical information about St. Edward's Church is provided by British history Online. A P Baggs, Christina Colvin, H M Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, Nesta Selwyn and A Tomkinson, 'Parishes: Westcott Barton', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 11, Wootton Hundred (Northern Part), ed. Alan Crossley (London, 1983), pp. 75-81. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol11/pp75-81 [accessed 22 April 2023].

St. Edward's Church is listed Grade II*.

For more information about St. Edward's Church see Parishes: Westcott Barton | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).