Church of St Olave
Church of St Olave, Fritwell
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1046892
- Date first listed:
- 07-Dec-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Olave
- Statutory Address:
- Church of St Olave, Fritwell
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-06-29
- Reference:
- IOE01/04174/30
- Rights:
- © Mr Alistair F Nisbet. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1046892
- Date first listed:
- 07-Dec-1966
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Olave
- Statutory Address 1:
- Church of St Olave, Fritwell
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 Olave, Fritwell
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Oxfordshire
- District:
- Cherwell (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Fritwell
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 52452 29301
Details
SP52NW
3/24
FRITWELL
Church of St Olave
07/12/66
GV
II*
Church. C12, C13 and C14, restored and partly rebuilt 1864 by G.E Street. Coursed squared limestone rubble with limestone ashlar and some marlstone ashlar dressings; lead, Stonesfield-slate and plain-tile roofs. Chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west tower and south porch.
Restored C13 chancel has a C19 east window, but retains a small lancet to north and an ogee-headed C14 lancet to south; the buttresses incorporate C15 carved panelling. The narrow lean-to south aisle has a small lancet to east and a restored lancet to west, but has square-headed C14 and C15 windows to south of two and three lights; the fine C12 doorway, sheltered by a C19 porch, has chevron ornament surrounding a tympanum carved with two beasts devouring a tree. The north aisle, which is also parapetted in marlstone, has similar windows to north but the east and west windows are traceried; the C12 doorway is plainer but has a cable mould around the arch. The rebuilt pyramid-roofed tower incorporates tall two-light C13 bell-chamber openings with plate tracery.
Interior: chancel has a re-sited column piscina or stoup of c.1200, and the north wall contains the Romanesque former chancel arch of two orders, the outer with chevron decoration. Chancel arch is C19, but the four bay nave arcades of two chamfered orders are probably C13 on the south, with round columns and some nailhead ornament, and C14 on the north, with octagonal columns. The roofs, including a crown-post roof in the nave, and all the fittings are C19, except for a panelled C14 font which tapers towards the base, and the western gallery, made up from Jacobean woodwork in 1901.
Listing NGR: SP5245229301
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 244548
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Salzman, L F, The Victoria History of the County of Oxford, (1959), 144
Pevsner, N, Sherwood, J, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, (1974)
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 28-Jun-2026 at 09:45:36.
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.