The Church of St. Nicholas, Britwell Salome
The church of St. Nicholas in Britwell Salome, most of which dates from 1867, is a building of flint and stone consisting of chancel, nave, vestry, south porch, and western bell gable. The old church was smaller and had a small wooden bellcot and no vestry. It dated from the 12th century at least, for it had a Romanesque chancel arch and south doorway to the nave. Parker writing in 1850 described the chancel as Decorated with a 'modern' east window. Drawings of 1812 and 1822 show that there was an early Perpendicular west window of two lights and square-headed windows of a later date in the south walls of the nave and chancel. There was also a dormer window in the nave roof. No drawing has been found showing the north side, or the east window, but Parker said the north windows were 'modern' and described the roof as plain with queen posts, and partly spoiled by the ceiling. He also recorded that there was an old oak door 'with good Norman hinges' and some old tiles. Few records remain of repairs to the ancient church. In 1759 the archdeacon made a number of orders: the porch was to be repaired, its roof was to be plastered and its floor made even, and the lumber was to be moved out of it; the west window was to be repaired; a new door to the church and a new floor to the pulpit were to be provided; and the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments were to be written on small tables and hung up under the king's arms and between the two beams. That there was general neglect is shown by the order to provide a new cushion and cloth for the reading desk, and clear away from the walls trees, bushes, weeds, and banks of rubbish. Accordingly in 1760 a new cushion and cloths for the pulpit, the reading-desk, and the communion table were provided, and the church was whitewashed. In 1766 the rector, James Stopes, put a railing and a bannister around the altar at a cost of £3 4s. Ten years later the parish paid for a gallery, which in 1844 was used by the singers, and the rector inserted a new window, probably the dormer window on the south which would have lighted the gallery. At some time before 1812 the old circular font had been replaced by a small wooden pedestal with 'an iron frame affixed to it to receive a bason'; this may have been done in order to make room for the children's seats. Minor repairs were carried out in 1815, 1825, and at other times. In 1865 plans were drawn up by the architect Charles Buckeridge for rebuilding the church. The cost of rebuilding the nave without the porch was estimated at £548. The rector was to pay for the chancel. It was planned to keep only the doorway and 'the front' (presumably the west front) of the original church, and to pull down Britwell Prior chapel and use the materials for rebuilding Britwell Salome church. G. E. Street, the diocesan architect, was critical of Buckeridge's plans, and disapproved of 'needlessly pulling down an old church' without even preserving such old features as the windows and the chancel arch. He also thought it of doubtful advantage to move the 'Norman' doorway from the south wall of the nave to that of the chancel, 'for which place its scale and character appear to be unsuited'. In spite of these objections, the plan was carried out largely in its original form, although the chancel arch, the south doorway, and the Norman font were saved. The new church was completed early in 1867. It was considerably larger than the old one. As the chancel had been extended to the west, the 'Holy Table' still stood in the same place, and therefore reconsecration was thought unnecessary. Monuments preserved from the old church are the small brass of Master Mores (i.e. Maurice) John, rector (d. 1492), with the figure of a priest in mass vestments; and a verse in Latin and English said by Rawlinson to be in memory of John Brome. Rawlinson says that above it there was a bust of 'a judge in his robes'. The bust has disappeared, but it is possible that it was of John Browne, rector 1554–75, who was buried in the church. The brass inscription to William White (d. 1530) and his wife Anne has gone; so also has the gravestone in the nave to James Stopes (d. 1734), Rector of Britwell and later of Brightwell Baldwin. There remain the monument, with arms, to Mary Gregory (d. 1675), widow of Edmund Gregory of Britwell, marble tablets to James Stopes, rector (d. 1777) and Mary his wife (d. 1799), and to Richard Newton (d. 1859) and Elizabeth his wife (d. 1870). More recent brass inscriptions are to members of the Smith family of Britwell House: John Apsley Smith (d. 1894), Admiral George Walter Smith (d. 1919), Reginald John Smith, K.C. (d. 1916), and Col. William Apsley Smith (d. 1927). There are stained glass windows in memory of a former rector J. T. Johnson (d. 1892), of John Smith (d. 1888) and of Emily Jane Smith (d. 1914), and of the Revd. Andrew Price (d. 1851), Rector of Britwell. The church has never been richly furnished. In 1553 it had only a chalice without a paten and a surplice. The oldest plate now is a pewter plate of the 17th century. There is also a silver chalice of 1839 and a paten of 1843, possibly given by the rector Andrew Price. There have probably never been more than the two bells of 1553. Of the two bells there now, one may be medieval; the other, dated 1761, probably replaced the cracked bell of 1759, which the archdeacon ordered to be recast. In 1927 a 17th-century Spanish painting of Christ carrying the Cross was given to the church by Major G. C. Whitaker of Britwell House. The registers date from 1574. The churchyard, which was extended in 1902, has a fine yew tree which appears in Buckler's drawing of 1822. Historical information about St. Nicholas' Church is provided by 'Parishes: Britwell Salome', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 8, Lewknor and Pyrton Hundreds, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1964), pp. 43-55. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol8/pp43-55 [accessed 14 March 2023]. St. Nicholas' Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, Britwell Salome - 1059466 | Historic England. For more information about St. Nicholas' Church see Parishes: Britwell Salome | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
