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St. Bartholomew's Church in Yarnton comprises chancel, nave, south chapel and aisle, south porch, and south-west tower. From the 12th-century church there survive a deep, widely splayed window reveal at the north-west end of the chancel, two similar reveals west of the south doorway, the doorway itself, and a font in the south chapel. A claim, based on the appearance of rough stonework in the south wall, that the present south aisle was the nave of the early church remains unproven, for there is similar masonry at the west end of the present nave. Extensive building work in the 13th century included the nave arcade of four bays, the chancel arch with its triple jamb shafts, the east and north-east windows of the chancel, and, probably, the extension eastwards of the south aisle. The chancel arch leans to the north, apparently because a tie beam in the chancel roof has been removed. In the 14th century new two-light windows were inserted west of the north and east of the south doorways, but, unusually for the area, there were no other alterations to the church. A large three-light window was inserted east of the north doorway in the 15th century and the church walls may have been raised. A clerestory was perhaps added at that time. There are remnants of 15thcentury wall paintings above the chancel arch and north doorway. The church was in disrepair for much of the 16th century. Rain, first said to be leaking into the church in 1520, was still doing so in 1581 when it was also noted that 'the church walls begin to sink and the leads and timber are greatly decayed'. 

Major restoration and enlargement of the church was undertaken in 1611 by Sir Thomas Spencer. A spacious family chapel was built at the east end of the south aisle, and a tower of three stages at the west. The tower seems to have been built slightly west of the church, the west wall of the aisle was then knocked out, and tower and aisle joined together. Nothing is known of an earlier tower, but churchwardens' payments for bell repairs indicate that there may have been one. The clerestory was probably refenestrated and the west window of the nave inserted about the same time that the chapel and tower were built. Sir Thomas's son Sir William built in 1634 a screen at the tower entrance, and probably provided the elaborately carved chapel screen, pulpit, and reading desk. A large state pew in similar style was placed at the south-west corner of the chapel; it was moved, and allegedly broken up, to make room for a memorial to Charlotte (d. 1850), wife of George SpencerChurchill, duke of Marlborough. Some of the wood survived and was used in 1921 to make stalls for the chancel. The Spencer chapel contains the largest collection of 17th-century armorial glass in the county. The south porch was added in 1616, and the chapel, south aisle, and tower were battlemented in 1627. The conservative styling and outstanding quality of the early 17th-century work, particularly the carving of the screen and chapel ceiling, and the smooth and regular coursing of the masonry, invite comparison with contemporary work in Oxford, notably at Wadham College and the Bodleian Library.

The church interior was painted white in 1707, and the exterior rendered. In 1793 the church was paved and repainted at Alderman William Fletcher's expense, and in 1802 the nave and south aisle were repewed using 15thcentury bench ends. Fletcher also gave a 15thcentury font formerly in St. Michael's church, Oxford, and 'many curious pieces of ancient sculpture'. The latter included seven alabaster panels of the 15th century which were formed into a reredos in the chancel. Between 1817 and 1823 one panel seems to have been removed, and two more, perhaps with others from elsewhere in the church, were ejected by Vaughan Thomas in the mid 19th century as being too 'Romish'. They were later rescued from a builder's yard and two were sold in 1914 to the British Museum and to the Victoria and Albert Museum respectively. Between 1812 and 1816 Fletcher gave a remarkable collection of 15thand early 16th-century stained glass. Of the church's own medieval glass only four pieces remain, in the tracery of the north-east window of the nave, including two early 15th-century representations of Cistercian monks, presumably of Rewley abbey. Some glass was removed before 1856 by Thomas as not 'proper ...being on subjects legendary'. The glass was extensively rearranged when removed for cleaning in 1913 by F. C. Eden. A further restoration took place in 1971, by D. King. When the south-west windows of the south aisle were reglazed in 1812 they were recreated as lancets on the exterior. 

The improvements undertaken by Thomas included the addition to the belfry screen of folding doors dated 1634 and of carved wood 'taken from out-of-sight places in the body of the church', the adornment of the north door with the arms of Fletcher and Spencer (1817), restoration of the pulpit and reading desk (1817-18), the opening of a new entrance in the north wall of the tower (1840), repainting of the church interior (1844), the repair of the Spencer chapel (1848-9), and the building of cupboards under the Spencer chapel pews to house the parish library (1851). 

The church was reroofed in 1911, roughcast was removed from the walls, and some perished stonework was replaced at the foot of the tower and outside the Spencer chapel. In the chancel a coved plaster ceiling installed c. 1816 was taken down to reveal an open timber roof, which was restored. Extensive repairs were made to the exterior stonework of the church in the 1950s, and in 1964 the nave and south aisle roofs were re-leaded. The Spencer chapel was restored in 1971, and in 1972 the tower battlements were renewed. 

There are traces of a rood screen in the chancel arch, and of a doorway to the loft on the south. Pieces of carved wood, reputedly remnants of the screen, were used in 1820 to frame the table of benefactions which hangs on the north wall of the church. The principal monuments are in the Spencer chapel. The earliest, presumably built c. 1611 and attributed to Jasper Hollemans, is a bedstead monument com memorating Sir William Spencer (d. 1609) and his wife Margaret. To the east an even larger monument, attributed to John Nost, has lifesize figures of Sir Thomas Spencer (d. 1685) and his wife Jane. The monument was incomplete in 1695, when Sir Robert Dashwood retained part of his purchase money for Yarnton towards its cost. The chapel also contains memorial tablets and plaques to other members of the Spencer family and the memorial to Charlotte, duchess of Marlborough, buried in the chapel at Blenheim. William Fletcher was buried at the west end of the church in 1827 in a stone coffin from the site of Godstow abbey. The lid bears a monumental brass by Thomas Knowles of Oxford, copied from the brass of Richard Atkinson (d. 1574) in St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford. 

Repairs were made in the early 17th century to the 'great bell' and to the saunce. A new bell, made at the parish's expense in 1618, was recast at Thomas's expense in 1853; five more were given in 1620 by Sir Thomas Spencer. A new frame was installed in 1988. A 16th-century church clock was replaced in 1641. It remained in working order in 1983, although the face was removed in the 19th century. The church plate includes a silver chalice and paten of 1629, a silver plate of 1632, and a silver flagon given in 1636 by Richard Brainthwaite. 

South of the church stands the lower half of a highly ornamented stone cross, probably of the 14th century. It is similar to the cross at Eynsham, and may have been erected by the abbey. It was recalled in the mid 19th century that there had been similar crosses at Cassington and Worton, also abbey properties. Yarnton's cross had been displaced from its base by 1810. The churchyard, extended in 1883, contains tombstones from the mid 17th century.

Historical information about St. Bartholomew's Church is provided by A P Baggs, W J Blair, Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, Janet Cooper, C J Day, Nesta Selwyn and S C Townley, 'Yarnton: Church', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12, Wootton Hundred (South) Including Woodstock, ed. Alan Crossley and C R Elrington (London, 1990), pp. 484-487. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol12/pp484-487 [accessed 23 February 2023].

St. Bartholomew's Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW, Yarnton - 1290230 | Historic England.

For more information about St. Bartholomew's Church see Yarnton: Church | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).