Church of St Mary the Virgin

CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1216164
Date first listed:
08-Dec-1955
List Entry Name:
Church of St Mary the Virgin
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE
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Date:
2002-08-16
Reference:
IOE01/05864/32
Rights:
© Mr Alistair F Nisbet. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1216164
Date first listed:
08-Dec-1955
List Entry Name:
Church of St Mary the Virgin
Statutory Address 1:
CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, 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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, CHURCH LANE

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Oxfordshire
District:
Cherwell (District Authority)
Parish:
Cropredy
National Grid Reference:
SP 46899 46668

Details

SP 4646,
14/46

CROPREDY,
CHURCH LANE (East side),
Church of St. Mary the Virgin

08/12/55

GV

I

Church. C13 work in the south aisle and C13 south doorway. Mostly C14 including
porch and west tower. C15 north aisle and chapels, 1877 restoration by E. W.
Christian, Squared, coursed ironstone and ashlar ironstone. Roof covering not
visible. Chancel, nave, north and south aisles north vestry. south porch. west
tower, north and south chapels, 6-window range, Chancel has a 4-light
reticulated east window. South elevation has a priest's door with moulded stone
surround and a 2-light geometrical window, South aisle has 2- and 3-light
Perpendicular or geometrical windows, Gabled south porch has stone parapet and
pointed arched doorway. Plank and nail door. South aisle has stone parapet and
late Decorated cornice carved with heads and ballflower. Five 2-light
perpendicular clerestory windows on north and south. West tower. Crenellated
with staircase turret slightly higher. 3 stages. Diagonal buttresses. String
courses to first and second stages, Panelled, double-leaf door on west with
pointed arched hood mould. Renewed 3-light Perpendicular window above and
2-light Perpendicular windows to bell stage, North aisle has Perpendicular
windows, some renewed. Doorway on right has plank door and pointed arched hood
mould and label stops. C14 vestry on north has a priest's room above with two
small windows, one of which now opens onto the north aisle. Sundial on south
aisle. Diagonal and angle buttresses on south aisle and chancel.

INTERIOR, Nave
has a 5-bay tie-beam roof on corbels, ridge and side purlins, arched braces.
Chancel has a similar roof, partly restored, Chancel has a Decorated and Early
English piscina, Doorway into vestry has a plank and nail door with wrought-iron
hinges. Priest's room (reached via ladder stair) has word panelling. Screen on
north side of the chancel has C14 fragments with flowing tracery. Another screen
around the chapel on the south has the initials of Ann Danvers and the date
1539. C17 communion rail. Nave has tall 4-bay Decorated arcades with piers
without capitals. Perpendicular piscina in north aisle (without a drain) . South
aisle has 2 arched tomb recesses. two fonts, one octagonal C14, the other 1853.
Late C15 style polygonal pulpit said to be dated 1619 (Kell's Directory). Rare
pre-Reformation C15 brass eagle lectern. Fragments of a painted Last Judgement
over the chancel arch. C13 chest with fine decorative ironwork. Chancel has
memorials to Francis Stainer (vicar) d.1735 and William and Abigail Taylor of
Williamscot House d.1733. Wall plaque to Richard H. S. Crossman of Prescote M.P., 1906-1974. South aisle and chapel have memorials to the Danvers and Gostelow
families of Prescote and the Caulcott, Taylor and Loveday families of
Williamscot. Freestone monument in south aisle to Walter Calcott d.1582 and
Alice Calcott. South wall of south aisle has remains of a stone figure of a
Knight in armour. Brass in nave to Priscilla Plant d.1837. North aisle has
classical style marble wall memorial to John Danvers of Prescot, MDCCXXI.
Fragments of C15 glass in north aisle. East window by Lavers. Barrant and
Westlake 1877 and memorial windows by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

(Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: 1974, pp. 559-60; VCH: Oxfordshire, Vol X.
pp. 171-2: Trans. Bust. and Gls. Arch. Soc. 52 (1930), pp. 45-8: 22 photographs in
Ashmolean Museum Oxford; Tran. North Oxford. Arch. Soc., 1879 pp. 56 and drawings
of mouldings)


Listing NGR: SP4689846667

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
401484
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Salzman, L F, The Victoria History of the County of Oxford, (1972), 171-2
Pevsner, N, Sherwood, J, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, (1974), 559-60
Transactions of the North Oxfordshire Archaeological Society in Transactions of the North Oxfordshire Archaeological Society, (1879), 56
Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 52, (1930), 46-8

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Church of St Mary the Virgin

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 12-Jul-2026 at 06:49:14.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

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.

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