Enjoy the latest Stories from St. Mary’s – telling the tale of why our parish church is no ordinary village church…

The early years of the 1700s saw a bitter dispute between Sir John Thornycroft of Milcombe Hall and the parishioners of Bloxham.

His wish in 1708 was to build a monument to his wife Elisabeth who died in 1704, blocking the east window in the Milcombe Chapel.

As a baronet and High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, he won the argument and the monument was built, to be added to by an even grander one for himself after he died in 1725 by Andrew Carpenter of  London.

During the 1864-6 restoration of the church (more on that next month), the monuments were moved to the west side of the chapel, where they can be seen today, thus bringing more light back into the chapel.

There is a story that the memorial once had two naked cherubs which caused some consternation to a lady who had to clean them and they were removed, but perhaps that’s just a good tale!

This series is brought to you by the BOF Heritage Group. Throughout its history, St. Mary’s Church, Bloxham, has adapted to the needs of the time. The Building Our Future (BOF) project is dedicated to enhancing our magnificent church with up-to-date facilities, to make it more welcoming and more practical for all – whilst maintaining the beauty of this historic building. St. Mary’s is now open daily allowing you to explore our parish church for yourself.

Please contact us via bofcomms@gmail.com to join the mailing list for future updates or to share your own Stories from St. Mary’s – or find out more about the project at  www.stmarysbloxham.org.uk/buildingourfuture.