Description

SP6022 LAUNTON BICESTER ROAD
(South side)

13/89 Church of St. Mary
07/12/66

GV I

Church. Late Cl2, C13, C14 and C15, restored C19. Limestone rubble with ashlar
dressings; old plain-tile and lead roofs. Chancel, aisled nave, south porch and
west tower. Tiled C15 chancel, with plinth and stepped diagonal buttresses, has
a 3-light Perpendicular-style east window (mostly 1851) and 2-light side windows
with 4-centred arches; the western window, south side, is probably C16, being
larger and uncusped. South aisle has a 4-centre arched 3-light east window with
Perpendicular drop tracery; to south are 2 large square-headed 3-light traceried
windows, and the parapet has a C17 inscription and a sundial. Tiled C15 south
porch has a Tudor-arched entrance and a group of 3 trefoil windows, (inserted
C19) and it shelters the C15 south doorway. North aisle has a 3-centre arched
3-light east window with Perpendicular drop tracery; to north is a large 3-light
square-headed traceried window plus a small moulded 4-centre-arched doorway (now
blocked), and to west a square-headed 2-light C15/C16 window. East gable of nave
has a blocked C13 trefoil-headed opening and the remains of a second opening,
probably later; C15/C16 clerestory windows to north and south have 2 cusped
lights. Late C12 tower, with a plain parapet rising from a moulded string, has a
lancet to west, and bell-chamber openings of 2 pointed arches within a
semi-circular rubble outer arch; the massive flying buttresses were added 1891
by R. Blomfield. Interior: chancel has a 2-seat sedilia with cusped Tudor arches
and flowers and foliage in the spandrels and cresting; similar piscina arch has
a label mould with foliage stops but the bowl has been restored. Roof dates from
the restoration of c.1850. Chancel arch and 4-bay north arcade are late C14,
with octagonal piers and moulded capitals; south arcade has 3 early-C13 circular
columns with moulded capitals, one with fleurs de lys and grotesques on a band
of nailhead ornament, but was rebuilt with C14 octagonal responds and arches of
2 hollow-chamfered orders. Tower arch of 3 chamfered orders dying into walls.
Small C15 piscina and mutilated cusped stoup in south aisle. Nave and aisle
roofs, with stop-chamfered joists and purlins, moulded cambered tie beams and,
in nave, arched braces from moulded posts look C15 but are dated late C16 by
Sharpe. Plain octagonal font on stem. Medieval stone mensa in south aisle. Royal
arms of 1617 over south door. Oak lectern (1917), with a tapering crenellated
stem surrounded by canopied angels, and oak screen (1910) by J.0. Scott, with
pierced friezes of flowers, a cresting of roses, and pierced panels carved with
birds and musical motifs are both very fine pieces in Arts and Crafts style.
Remainder of fittings C19. C19 glass in chancel and south aisle. Classical wall
tablet in south aisle commemorates Shelomith Deeley (died 1736). Porch has a C15
roof with curved windbraces and the small windows contain fragments of medieval
stained glass.
(V.C.H.: Oxfordshire: Vol.VI, p.241; Buildings of England: 0xfordshire,
pp.681-2; Frederick Sharpe, The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Launton, 1971).

Listing NGR: SP6043422828

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17528233

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings