St Mary's Church, Chastleton

The font, which may be Norman

St Mary's parish church was built in about AD 1100. All that remains of the original Norman church are a door in the north wall, the arched pillars and possibly the baptismal font.

In about 1320 the chancel was built, part of the north wall was widened and the south aisle was added to form chantry chapels.[3]

The chapel received its charter as a chantry in 1336. Robert Trillowe, who lived on the site of Chastleton House, was probably the patron. The floor has medieval glazed fired floor-tiles which almost certainly date from the 14th century.

The east window depicts the four Evangelists. The South window shows scenes from the childhood of Jesus.

The panelling on the east wall is 17th century, as are the pews. The ceiling is Victorian and bears the coats of arms of five successive families of the Manor of Chastleton: Trillowe, Catesby, Jones, Whitmore and Whitmore-Jones. In a vault below the chapel lie the remains of some of these families.

The altar was designed in 1993 by Mr Poole from the nearby village of Oddington, Gloucestershire and matches the adjoining 14th-century pillars.[3]

The carved woodwork behind the altar may well be the remains of the rood screen which once stood above the chancel arch. Below the chancel were tombs of some of the Jones family, as well as those of some of the former parish rectors. Horatio Westmacott, rector in the 1880s was the third son of the famous Victorian sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott.

On the floor of the south aisle near the lectern are two brasses. One commemorates the grandmother of Robert Catesby, Katherine Throckmorton, who died in 1592. The other commemorates Edmund Ansley, who died in 1613.[4][5]

The vestry was added in 1853.[3]

The pulpit is Jacobean, possibly by the same craftsman who made much of the panelling in Chastleton House. It is marked with the date 1623.[5] Originally sited on the other side of the chancel arch, it was built as a triple-decker, with integral reading desk and clerk's desk.

The pews in the nave and chancel are Victorian. These replaced Jacobean oak benches and pews with high backs, of which three remain in the South aisle chapel.

The organ now hides a stone piscina,[5] which is the only sign of a former chantry chapel. J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd built and installed the present organ in 1937. For the 49 years before 1937 the organist was one Walter Newman. In the Middle Ages the church had a west gallery which would have been used by a West Gallery band.

On the north wall are important examples of 17th- and 18th-century wall paintings which may formerly have covered the entire wall. Most of the paintings, which were uncovered in the 1930s, are post-mediaeval[5] and depict The Ten Commandments and/or The Lord's Prayer, A further painting on the south wall, depicting The Last Judgement, was uncovered in 1878 but was covered over again soon after.

The west window is 14th century with glass dating from the 1900s. The gallery, accessed by a stairway, the small window for which remains, was removed in 1878. The font is thought to be 13th century or possibly earlier.

The tower has a ring of six bells. Richard Keene of Woodstock cast the third bell in 1696.[6] There were three bells until 1726, when the ring was increased to four. Henry III Bagley, who had a bell-foundry at Witney, cast the fourth and fifth bells in 1731.[6] Matthew III Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast the second bell in 1762.[6] John Rudhall of Gloucester cast the treble bell in 1811[6] and the tenor bell in 1825,[6] increasing the ring to six.

Henry Bond of Burford refurbished the bells in 1900. In 1993 nearly £40,000 was raised for the bells to be re-tuned and re-hung. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry re-tuned them and Whites of Appleton re-hung them in a new steel frame.

The bells are rung regularly by a team from the village, supported by ringers from the nearby parish church at Salford. The bell ringing chamber is on the first floor of the tower which is entered by the south door in the base of the tower. The ringing chamber is accessed by a short flight of ladder type steps with a trap-door at the top, which is closed during ringing.[7]

On the north side of the church yard, adjoining Chastleton House and near the north door of the church, lies the tomb of Sir Richard Westmacott (1775–1855), perhaps the greatest monumental sculptor of the Victorian era.

Other notable burials in the churchyard include those of Alan Clutton-Brock of Chastleton House, Newbury Racecourse manager Geoffrey Freer and CLT Walwyn, father of racehorse trainer Peter Walwyn.