St Mary's Church, Banbury

St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the Diocese of Oxford. The church is a Grade I listed building.[2]

St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church, seen from the west
52.061483°N 1.339084°W / 52.061483; -1.339084
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipCentral
History
StatusActive
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Heritage designationGrade I listed
Architect(s)Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Charles Robert Cockerell
Administration
DioceseDiocese of Oxford
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Dorchester
ParishBanbury St. Mary
Clergy
Vicar(s)The Revd Serena Tajima[1]
NSM(s)The Revd Canon Jeff West
Laity
Organist/Director of musicDylan McCaig

History

St Mary's Church was built in the 1790s to replace the Medieval one damaged during the English Civil War. The church was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, with a tower and portico added by Charles Robert Cockerell in 1818 to 1822.[2]

The inside of the church was re-ordered in the 1860s and 1870s by the then vicar Henry Back, an Anglo-Catholic, to make it more suitable for Eucharistic worship. He commissioned Arthur Blomfield to oversee the re-ordering and to decorate the church in a Byzantine style.[3] It was during this time that stained-glass windows designed by Robert Turnill Bayne (1837–1915) were added, including one depicting The Parable of the Talents.

Present day

St Mary's Church stands in the Central tradition of the Church of England.[4] It is a member of Inclusive Church.[5]

From 1993, the church was shared by the Church of England and the United Reformed Church; it was not, however, a Local Ecumenical Partnership.[3][6] This agreement ended by the time of the 2019 vacancy.[5]

The church's Resurrection Chapel is home to one of the 84 Lamps of Brotherhood that were made after World War II as a sign of reconciliation between nations.[7]

Notable clergy
  • Chancel, with altar and wall paintings
    Chancel, with altar and wall paintings
  • Down onto nave from balcony
    Down onto nave from balcony

References
  1. "The next chapter". St Mary Church, Banbury. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  2. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST MARY (1369519)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. "Pairsh Profile: St Mary's Church, Banbury" (PDF). Diocese of Oxford. November 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. "Banbury St Mary, Banbury". A Church Near You. Archbishops' Council. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. "St Mary's Church Banbury: Parish Profile" (PDF). Diocese of Oxford. April 2019. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. "The United Reformed Church". St Mary's Church, Banbury. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. "St. Mary, Banbury, Oxon". Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  8. "David Thomson". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. Crockford's Clerical Directory 1940-41 Oxford, OUP, 1941
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