St. Paul's Church, Culham
St. Paul's Church in Culham comprises a chancel, nave, north and south aisle, south transept, west tower, and south porch. It is a relatively modern edifice, replacing a medieval Gothic building which stood on the site from the late 12th or early 13th century to the middle of the 19th century. A statement that the original dedication was to St. Andrew seems to be without foundation. The mistake may have arisen through the confusion of Culham with the chapel on Andersey (i.e. St. Andrew's island), but more probably with Colne (Essex) where Abingdon Abbey had a cell and where the church was dedicated to St. Andrew. The ancient church was about the same length as the present edifice, but had a narrower nave. The chancel measured 33 ft. 4 in. by 14 ft. 3 in. and was rectangular. The nave was 46 ft. 8 in. long by 15 ft. 2 in. wide; the north transept 15 ft. 2 in. by 13 ft. 7 in.; the south transept 7 ft. by 13 ft. 3 in.; and there was a south aisle 10 ft. 3 in. wide. The chancel, except for the north wall, had been so extensively repaired by 1846 as almost to be new. There was a door on the south side with a fanlight over it and a brick chimney. The nave had on the south side five small arches, pointed and recessed, and Early English in style. There was a Decorated window of two lights in the wall of the south aisle. The south transept had a Decorated window of two lights on its east side and another of three lights at the end; above this window was a sundial. A sketch of the south side of the church shows that the original porch added in 1638 was much closer to the south transept than the present porch, and that the line of the roof was lower. The north side of the building seems to have been poorly lit: it had only a single lancet window in the wall, although above was a range of four clerestory windows of two lights. In the north transept, however, in 'a little chapel' was the chief glory of the old church, the east window, which was filled with heraldic glass, the jambs containing chains of heraldic shields with the arms of different families; on each side was a two-light lancet window. This glass was inserted in 1638 and was part of the design of Sir Edmund Cary's monument (see below) erected by his widow. The principal arms were those of Cary and Humphrey. When the church was rebuilt much of the glass was placed in a window of the north aisle, where it now is. A high window on the north side of the church at one time contained the arms of an Abbot of Abingdon, It is not known when this window disappeared, but it was there when Rawlinson visited the parish in 1717. The tower arch is described as lofty, well proportioned, pointed but plain. It was boarded up and had a gallery in front of it dated 1721. In the churchwardens' accounts are constant references to the repair of the fabric, and there seem to have been major repairs in 1792 and 1817, but the building was in such a state of decay in 1852 that there was no alternative but to rebuild it. The nave was rebuilt in the Early English style in 1852 (architect, Joseph Clarke of London; builder, G. Wyatt of Oxford) at a cost of some £1,600. It could seat 290 persons. The chancel was rebuilt in 1872 (architect R. P. Spiers of London; builder, Groves) at the expense of the lay rector J. S. Phillips. It has an apsidal east end. The tower is the only part of the old church remaining and apparently dates from 1710, this date being inscribed on the leadwork. It is a plain battlemented structure of stone rendered in cement. There was certainly an earlier tower. There is a reference to the steeple in 1552; and in 1704, and again in 1705, the churchwardens were ordered to arrange for the repair of the tower. The church was refitted after rebuilding. An old communion table dated 1638 and an ancient parish chest survive. A stone font was given in about 1845 by J. S. Phillips. Before that time a baptismal font of gilded base metal (now used as an alms-dish), resting on a mahogany stand, was used. On either side of the altar there are 19th-century wooden panels with painted figures of saints. There were once the following memorials to the Bury family: John Bury (d. 1571/2); Elizabeth Wilmot (d. 1607), formerly wife of John Bury; William Bury (d. 1632), son of Thomas Bury, with arms; William Bury (d. 1657/8) and George Bury (d. 1662), under an achievement; Thomas Bury (d. 1671); and Anne Bury (d. 1672/3). There was also the ledger stone of Thomas Rawlins, vicar (d. 1704). In 1958 the following memorials were in the church: a tablet to Thomas Bury (d. 1614/5); a wall monument with arms to Sir Edmund Cary (d. 1637), the third husband of Judith, formerly wife of Thomas Bury (d. 1614/5); a similar wall monument to Lady Judith Cary, the third wife of Sir Edmund, erected by herself in 1638; a tablet to Sarah Bury (d. 1650), wife of George Bury. A memorial to the Welch family includes John Welch (d. 1807) and his son John (d. 1827). Other memorials are to John Phillips of Culham House (d. 1824); Mary Phillips (d. 1829); Jonathan Peel (d. 1843), signed Godfrey, Abingdon; Robert Wintle, vicar (d. 1848); John Shawe Phillips (d. 1859) and other members of the Phillips family. A 19th-century tablet commemorates Thomas Bury (d. 1614/5), William Bury (d. 1657/8), Elizabeth Shakespear (d. 1644), John Reston the elder (d. 1675), John Reston (d. 1698), and others. A war-memorial tablet to eight parishioners killed in the First World War was designed by Denis Godfrey of Abingdon and was erected in 1919. An inscription to those killed in the Second World War was added in 1950. There are painted-glass windows in the nave and transept to the memory of James Morrell (d. 1863); and one in the chancel to Montagu Phillips (d. 1874), an infant; two painted achievements of the Phillips family are in the chancel and a royal arms of Queen Victoria is over the door. In 1958 the plate consisted of a silver Elizabethan chalice dated 1575; a silver flagon with heraldic arms given by the Revd. Thomas Woods in 1752; a silver plate, hallmarked 1726, given by the Revd. Benjamin Kennicott in 1761; and a silver paten, hallmarked 1829, given by the Revd. Robert Wintle in 1829. In 1552 the church possessed three bells and a sanctus bell, and it had a ring of three bells until 1921. These consisted of a tenor of 1597 by Joseph Carter; and two Aldbourne bells, one of 1729 by John Corr and the other uninscribed. These were recast in 1921 by Mears and Stainbank and two smaller bells were added. In 1926 a larger bell was given in memory of G. H. Gillam, vicar. There is a sanctus bell dated 1774 which is hung for chiming. It was cast by Edne Willis of Aldbourne, a noted ringer, and is the only bell known to be by him. The churchyard was extended in 1887 and again in 1921. The registers date from c. 1648 for baptisms, 1662 for burials, and 1666 for marriages, but the early ones are irregularly kept. There are churchwardens' accounts from 1718. Historical information about St. Paul's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Culham', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London, 1962), pp. 27-39. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp27-39 [accessed 16 March 2023]. St. Paul's Church is a Grade II listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST PAUL, Culham - 1059792 | Historic England. For more information about St. Paul's Church see Parishes: Culham | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
