This is a guide to churches within a “day trip” of Oxford which have been authoritatively reported as having Anglo-Saxon or early Post-Conquest structural remains.
Instructions: The Gazetteer is available in two forms (PDF and Word) The images associated with this are in various zipped files.
Users are strongly recommended to read the “Introduction and Advice” on page 1 of the gazetteer.
The content of the new version of the gazetteer includes images of 25 churches which were not available for the first version. The revised descriptions of these churches often reflect the writer’s visits. There are also notes and pictures of 4 churches not mentioned in version one.

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The church was extended in the 14th century, adorned with dripstone carvings, 17th century hatchments and further extended in the Victorian period. The church was made redundant in 1956 and was converted to a Museum of Rural History in the 1970s. Since 1997, it has been closed to the public but CO1 is working with Colchester Borough Council and English Heritage to restore the Grade 1 listed building as a place of national importance, incorporating a public café, a youth music and arts venue and a place for communities to meet and be supported.

The café is run by employed staff and volunteers, working regularly with organisations such as GO4 Enterprise, whose aims are to provide training, work and ongoing support to young people unable to get employment. CO1 has free Wifi and is a licensed venue for live music.
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Info:

CO1 (Youth Culture Ltd) - Registered Charity 1085944

Visit the café: Mon-Fri 9am-4.30pm
CO1, Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Street, Colchester CO1 1JR
01206 571427
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These early Saxons who had probably come via Kent and the Isle of Wight were pagans.
Christianity was brought to the Jutish/Saxon people of the Meon Valley in the latter part of the 7th Century (681-686) by a Benedictine monk called Wilfrid; Wilfrid came from the Northumbria.
The story of Wilfrid and the conversion of the Meon Valley people to Christianity is told in the attachment.
Additional information is available at www.wilfrid-meon-pilgrimage.co.uk and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid
One of the churches of the Meon Valley is Corhampton Saxon Church, built in 1020, and used as a place of Christian worship since the Saxon era. You can learn more in a separate Woruldhord submission on Corhampton Saxon Church or at www.bridgechurches.org.uk. You can also sign-up at this website to become a 'Friend' to ensure the future of this Saxon icon and to support & participate in future Saxon festivals, education and exploratory activities.]]>

The nave and chancel were rebuilt in Norman times, and the latter is a fine example of that period, but the surviving Anglo-Saxon features are unique, comprising the crossing with its four high arches, as well as the transepts. There were two periods of the Anglo-Saxon building, as it is recorded that a Bishop Eadnoth rebuilt the church. As there were two bishops of that name, the rebuilding took place either between c. 1004 and 1016 or between c. 1034 and 1050. The lower parts of the walls appear to be of the earlier period, and show signs of fire.

The crossing arches are about 14 feet wide, but 30 feet in height, and apart from Norton in County Durham, Stow has the only surviving true Anglo Saxon crossing, all four arches being of the same height. They are unmistakably Anglo-Saxon, and similar although lower arches can be seen at Wittering near Peterborough and St Benet’s in Cambridge. The masonry of the transepts is Anglo-Saxon, and includes a complete window and a doorway, and traces of two further windows. The crossing at Stow was reinforced by the insertion of pointed gothic arches in about the 14th century, possibly to take the added weight of the new crossing tower which might have been previously of wood. The roofs were lowered at the same time, but in the 19th century a major restoration took place, raising the roofs again and otherwise taking the building back closer to its Anglo-Saxon and Norman appearance. A visit to the Minster Church of St Mary, Stow in Lindsey remains a breathtaking experience a thousand years after its construction. ]]>