Welcome to St Mary s Westwell. This guide is for the use of visitors to the church while in the church. After your visit please leave it for those who follow.
A Bronze Age henge, between Westwell and Holwell, and Roman coins from Hadrian s time (died 138 AD) found in the Manor grounds prove that Westwell has been on the map for a long time. Its name probably dates from the division of England into counties by the Saxons before the Conquest when this was the westernmost well in Oxfordshire (founded 1007). Westwell is listed in the Domesday Book (1086) and a papal decree of 1196 settled a dispute about the incumbency of Westwell proving that a church was here long before that date. The rectors are listed from 1220 and the Gift of the Living, the advowson, was bestowed by the Norman lords, the de Hastings, on the Knights Hospitallers who were at nearby Quennington. Later heirs gave the Manor to Edington Monastery in Wiltshire in 1351; a house of Bonhommes (good men!!!) patronised by the Black Prince. Font The sad queen Fr Willis Organ. Nave Trinder memorial Chancel Arch. Chancel Removed piscina, now a porch stoup. Altar,the Mensa Effigy Westwell 2 Rose Window Of the original tiny aisleless Norman church, two Eastern bays of the nave survive and their original roof rafters and tie beams. Also original are the chancel arch, chancel rose window,south door and quatrefoil font. The Norman chancel was maybe a small, semicircular apse which has been replaced by an Early English Gothic design dating from the 12th Century. The nave is slightly south of true East and the 12thC chancel was re-aligned to true east, only a few degrees!! The present stone slab altar table, a Mensa (Latin) with five consecration crosses, may date from this period and would have been in the centre of the Chancel then.
To have a timber roof structure surviving from the Norman era is remarkable, and it still appears to be in excellent condition. The stone used for the chancel arch and the rose window is said to have come from Caen in Normandy. Certainly, the design on the capitals (below) of the chancel arch is similar to that in the Abbé des Hommes at Caen and also similar to that in Kencot church nearby. The rose window was probably somewhere in the original Norman apse chancel and then was transferred to the flat east wall of the 12th century chancel when it was rebuilt. Whether this window was originally glazed is questionable and medieval glass in churches was destroyed during the Reformation after Henry VIII s break with Rome and during the Civil War by the Cromwellian soldiers. The current glass is medieval in style with scenes from the Passion in the five petals. This style became fashionable in the Pre-Raphaelite era of William Morris who lived at nearby Kelmscott. Westwell 3
While still examining the Norman aspects of the church note the fine quatrefoil font set on pillars. Pillars with scalloped capitals, similar designs are again found in other churches in the area notably Broadwell; maybe a local workshop or group of masons specialised in making them. The final example of Norman masonry is the south door by which you entered. Note the two rows of chevron design in the moulding of the arch. Originally this would have been the outer door and, facing south, a scratch dial or mass clock has been cut into the stonework of the tympanum section of the arch to indicate the times of services before the days of watches and clocks. The advowson, the Living of St Mary s, Westwell, was given to the Knights Hospitallers about 1279 with Lord William de Hastings, whose chief manor was at Eaton Hastings across the Thames from Kelmscott, retaining the manorial lands and the responsibilities to the King for taxes and knights. Church property escaped tax which was the reason for transferring the Living and some lands to the The Hospitallers, the knights of St John of Jerusalem, Hospitallers. would undoubtedly have sent a priest to Westwell to administer the Sacrament on the most important religious festivals. At other times a local rector in lower orders would have taken services. After Lord William de Hastings, Westwell manor passed by marriage to Sir Benedict Blakenham, then to the de Philibert family. During the troubled times of the Black Death (1349) and the Hundred Years war ( ended 1453) John de Philibert gave Westwell, the Hospitallers acceded, in entirety to his friend, William of Edyndon, Bishop of Winchester, who built a monastery at Edyndon, now called Edington in Wiltshire. Only the cathedral like church of this monastery remains today. Few records exist from this period so the exact terms and reasons for the transfer of ownership are not known. Westwell 4
There is little scope for stained glass in St Mary s, Westwell, but a group of sheep farmers had a larger window installed in the south wall and installed a memorial window. Pray for the good estate of Robert Lockerne, Thomas Treker, Henry Grelle and Isabelle his wife, Robert Menshune who installed this window in the 14th year of Henry VIII (1522 or 1523). Although Cromwell s soldiers are generally blamed for the destruction of glass and monuments in churches this window was complete and the inscription recorded on 14th August 1717 when the antiquarian Bishop, Richard Rawlinson, visited Westwell. Sometime after this the window was broken and the pieces retrieved were installed in the present haphazard manner. Henry VIII closed the monasteries in the period 1533 to 1538 and suppressed the Hospitallers in May 1540. Henry granted Westwell manor, in a parlous state at that time, to William Bernaars, Walter Ferrer and William Glascock who sold it to Sir William Petre, Privy Cousellor to Elisabeth 1 and benefactor of Exeter College, Oxford. In 1544 Sir William Petre was also granted the Advowson, the Living, of St Mary s Church, Westwell. In November of that year Sir William leased the manor to Robert Taylor of Sherborne who most certainly built the Manor House. In 1546 the Advowson and the manor were all sold to Christ Church, Oxford, who retained ownership, and established a prosperous village, until 1912. Rectors (unlike Vicars) own the chancel and have financial responsibilities for properties, almshouses, etc., in the parish. So Richard Thorneton, M.A. Canon of Christ Church and former Rector of Cassington, also owned by Christ Church,and then Rector of Westwell from 1599 until his death in 1614 decided to be buried in the chancel of St Mary s, Westwell. To accommodate his tomb, the piscina, for washing the chalice, was moved to the porch and his tomb squeezed between the wall and the altar. Westwell 5
The receptacle in the porch is normally a stoup, or bowl, used for holding holy water. In Westwell it is the 12th century Piscina moved from the chancel in order to accommodate Richard Thorneton s tomb. However, a piscina is used for washing the chalice after communion and has a drain hole in the bottom for the water to flush away - not very suitable for a stoup!!!! Charles Trinder s name is important both in Holwell s and in Westwell s history. He was a yeoman s son from Barnsley, just beyond Bibury in Gloucestershire, who came to work for Henry Heylin in Burford. He married his master s daughter and so became a gentleman. He bought most of Holwell and built a manor house there. He retired to Westwell in 1634 and lived in Westwell Manor as a tenant of Christ Church. His sons continued farming and building in Holwell. Charles Trinder died in 1657 and this prominent memorial on the north wall of the church is probably the work of a local craftsman. It shows Charles kneeling, with six sons behind him, facing his wife, Jane, who has eight daughters behind her. Four sons survived their father and the two eldest were Catholics who had to flee England. John returned from Flanders in 1689 with some carved wooden panels which now grace the pulpit in Holwell church. All four sons achieved in life and are recorded as lords of manors, sergeants-at-arms or other notable professions. Westwell 6 A fifth son can be named, Giles, as his memorial stone lies in the floor of the church porch. The exploits of five daughters can also be traced and they married into other local families, Brookes, Raintons and Brays, from Burford, Shilton and Barrington. The family history is both colourful and an interesting pen picture of life in the late 1600s - a remarkable family.
Christ Church did not maintain its holdings in Westwell in good order and they sold the Manor to Sir Sothern Holland (South African colonial service) in 1912. He restored it from a derelict state by using local skilled craftsmen. His memorial is on the south wall of the church. Westwell also has links with the Mitford family. The rectory, also in a parlous state, was purchased for Captain, the Honourable, Bertram Freeman-Mitford, DSO RN (retd) as a wedding gift. He first approached the house through an untidy, nettle strewn churchyard to find a building covered in creeper with broken windows. In 1929 Christ Church sold its remaining farms in Westwell and they were purchased by Sir Sothern Holland and Capt Mitford who became 3rd Lord Redesdale. The little 1860 Henry Willis organ, left, was a gift to the church in 1969 from Commander Dick and Rosemary Bailey (a Mitford descendant) in memory of the Redesdale family. It is annually tuned and regularly played for services. As you leave the church note the range of chest and bale tombs in the churchyard. Bale tombs are peculiar to this upper Windrush valley and south to Cricklade. Also note the skilled window carving on the south west nave window... A sad queen from medieval days. The sources of information for this guide have been numerous but do include A.S.T.Fisher s History Westwell, Oxfordshire, Victoria County History files, John Blair s Internet notes about Westwell and his Anglo-Saxon Oxfordshire and also the guide book which I found already in the church - I would like to acknowledge the work of these authors. Photographed, produced and printed by Derek Cotterill, 2008. Westwell 7