St. Peter's Church, Marsh Baldon
St. Peter's Church in Marsh Baldoncomprises a nave, chancel, north aisle, and western tower. The only trace of Saxon work remaining is a scratch dial with cabled border, once on the south wall but now over the south doorway. It has been listed as one of the 24 certain Anglo-Saxon sundials now surviving. The western tower was built in the early 14th century and is of unusual workmanship. It has a square base and an octagonal top which may have been designed for a steeple. The nave and chancel appear to be chiefly 14th- or early-15th-century work. The south door has a shouldered arch and there is a wooden porch. The barge-boarding has been attributed to the 14th century but it may have been renewed in the late 16th century, since timber was bought for the porch in 1589. The considerable rebuilding undertaken in the 14th century may account for the statement repeatedly made that Peter de la Mare built and endowed a chapel in 1341. Alterations appear to have been made in the time of Henry VII, but by 1588 the building was described as in decay and minor repairs were carried out during the next twenty years. In 1605 a mason was paid 20s. to prop the tower arch; windows were mended, the leads were repaired and a sum of 25s. was paid for 'painting'—pehaps the king's arms, which were painted in 1662 for the same sum. To this period too belongs the carved pulpit. In the 18th and 19th centuries a certain amount of alterations and restorations was carried out. Rawlinson recorded that the church was put into 'very neat repair' by Dr. Lane, the lord of the manor. Sir Christopher Willoughby, another lord of the manor, was apparently responsible for adding the north aisle and having two windows put in the south wall of the nave. The wooden pillars and arches of the new aisle were justifiably described as 'very bad' and looking as if they were cut out of deal board. In 1806 Sir Christopher removed the east window with its old glass to this aisle and replaced it by a copy of Guido's Annunciation by Pompeo Batoni. He had originally given this picture to Corpus Christi College, but it had been returned when the college acquired another altar-piece. To this period perhaps belonged the brick paving, the west gallery, and the family pews of the Willoughbys which filled the north aisle and nave. The aisle was enlarged and rebuilt between 1888 and 1890. The east window was restored to its original place, and its neo-Gothic stone frame was inserted in the new east wall of Willoughby's aisle. This is now obscured by the organ. The architects were Micklethwaite & Somers Clarke. A new octagonal font of stone was put in 1890. The electric light in the chancel was given by E. G. Mackay in 1946. The Perpendicular east window now has glass of three different dates collected from other parts of the church. In the centre light is 14th-century glass of the figure of St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read, under a canopy. The mother is clothed in green and has a nimbus, the child stands by her clothed in red and holding a book. In the side lights are the figures of the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist: these are thought to be part of a crucifixion scene. Below are 16th century coats of arms of Henry VIII with the letters 'H.R.', and two 14th-century shields of the Giffards and of the de la Mares. The south-east window of the chancel has two 17th-century shields of arms, including those of Danvers and two 16thcentury shields, including those of Davye, a family related to the Pollards, which were noted by Anthony Wood on his visit to the church in 1660. Monuments include a Purbeck slab with a brass coat quartering the arms of Danvers in memory of John Danvers of Marsh Baldon (d. 1616) and one to John Bridges, Bishop of Oxford (d. 1618). A marble monument with twisted columns, figures of cherubs and a Latin inscription commemorates the death from smallpox in London in 1701 of Anne, daughter of John and Susanna Pollard of Baldon, and wife of John Cawley, Archdeacon of Lincoln. The death of their daughter from fever in 1680 is also commemorated. In the early 19th century two Gothic tablets were placed in the chancel by Sir Christopher Willoughby in memory of his friends and relatives. One of these commemorates John Lane, LL.D. (d. 1740), Elizabeth Lane his widow (d. 1771), Phanuel Bacon, D.D. (d. 1783) and Margaret Bacon his wife (d. 1767), and Ann Barlow (d. 1805). The other commemorates Juliana, first wife of Sir Christopher (d. 1777), his mother (d. 1799), and his infant daughter and son. Both tablets were removed to the nave in 1890. There is a memorial to the dead of the two World Wars. In 1553 there were three bells in the steeple. In 1629 these were recast at Reading: the churchwardens' accounts record payments of 17s. and £9 8s. to the bell-founder for casting and metal; also of £4 16s. to the carpenter for a bell-frame. In 1632 the sanctus bell was reported broken and it was sent to Reading for repair. To defray the cost a rate of 9d. a yardland and 3d. a cottage was levied. There is now a ring of four bells. Two are the work of Ellis Knight (I), one is perhaps by John White and the sanctus bell was cast by Robert Wells (c. 1760). The church was never rich in possessions: in 1553 it had a chalice of 'sylver parcell gilt', which has since been lost or remade. It now has a bellshaped silver chalice, a small plate-paten, a tankard flagon, all with hall-mark 1727, and a silver chalice with paten-cover, hall-marked 1764. The following parish registers survive: baptisms from 1559, marriages from 1598, except for 1724–8 and 1736–53, and burials from 1586. Historical information about St. Peter's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Marsh Baldon', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5, Bullingdon Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1957), pp. 30-47. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol5/pp30-47 [accessed 23 March 2023]. St. Peter's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST PETER, Marsh Baldon - 1048056 | Historic England For more information about St. Peter's Church see Parishes: Marsh Baldon | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
