Church of St Mary
CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1046428
- Date first listed:
- 07-Dec-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-06-30
- Reference:
- IOE01/05260/07
- Rights:
- © Mr Alistair F Nisbet. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1046428
- Date first listed:
- 07-Dec-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST MARY, CHURCH LANE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Oxfordshire
- District:
- Cherwell (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Souldern
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 52301 31691
Details
SOULDERN CHURCH LANE SP5231 (North side) 14/80 Church of St. Mary 07/12/66
GV II*
Church. Mid-C12 north wall and doorway. Romanesque tower and tower arch rebuilt by G.F. Bodley in 1906 re-using the old materials. Foundations of apsidal Romanesque chancel discovered in 1896. South aisle added in late C12 and rebuilt in the C14 re-using the Romanesque round piers but employing new pointed arches and the capitals of the responds carved with heads. Corbel table of similar heads on the south wall added by T. Rickman in the early C19. Chancel rebuilt in the C18 and again in 1897 by Sir Ninian Comper. Coursed and squared coursed limestone rubble. South aisle has lead roof, others not visible. Chancel, nave, south aisle and porch, west tower. Chancel has renewed Decorated and Perpendicular style windows in ironstone: 4-light on east, 2- and 3-light on south and 2-light on north. Renewed priest's door on north. Diagonal and clasping buttresses. Shallow parapet. Nave has Romanesque north doorway. Two 2-light Perpendicular windows with square heads, and hood moulds and label stops on north. Both north and south clerestorys have 4 small square Decorated windows. Shallow stone parapets. South aisle. 3-light window with reticulated tracery. 2- and 3-light Decorated windows flanking porch and 3-light window with intersecting tracery on west. Diagonal buttresses, gargoyle and corbel table with carved heads. Shallow stone parapet. C15 south porch has wide pointed arched doorway, stone bench seats and stoup. South doorway has a pointed arched head with hood moulds with head stops. West tower of 4 stages with strings to 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages. 2-light Romanesque opening to bell-turret. Parapet. Interior: chancel has 4-bay C19 roof. Nave has an arched tie beam roof. South aisle has original C14 roof. Chancel arch has foliage and carved head on the responds indicating a rebuilding of c.1300. Three-bay south arcade. North wall has remains of a large St. Christopher. C12 tub font. Chancel has 3 brasses. One to Thomas Warner dated 1514 and another to an unknown woman, C16. Also a heart with scrolls c.1460, the original inscription has been replaced by a C16 inscription to J. Throckmorton. Wall memorial in chancel to Thomas Hardinge dated 1648. C19 reading desk, pulpit and pews. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: pp768-9; VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol VI: pp309-311)
Listing NGR: SP5230131691
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 243674
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Salzman, L F, The Victoria History of the County of Oxford, (1959), 309-311
Pevsner, N, Sherwood, J, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, (1974), 768-9
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 23-Jun-2026 at 02:18:35.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.