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£1.2m project to upgrade St Mary’s Church in Bloxham
15/10/2021
Three phase project will result in church being more flexible for worship and community use
An ambitious £1.2m project to transform St Mary’s Church in Bloxham to suit the needs of its community has begun. The three-phase plan aims to upgrade the building whilst protecting the Grade 1 listed Medieval church, large parts of which date back to the 14th century.
The project was initiated by the Parochial Church Council with architects engaged who specialise in creating designs to open up churches for new uses to. The initial plans became the starting point for discussions co-ordinated by the Building Our Future (BOF) project team.
Jon Carlton is the BOF Co-Project Leader. He said: “Whilst the church is ancient, beautiful and an asset that needs to be looked after, it is increasingly impractical for the flexible uses we want to make of it as a place of worship.
“But also there are significant parts of the week when its either empty or relatively unused. So wouldn’t it be a great idea to make it more available and useful for the community as well, rather than just a place of worship that’s used occasionally”.
The three-phase project has been designed to enable each part of the plan to be implemented as the funds become available.
The first phase will see a new heating system installed, together with the addition of toilets, a kitchen and audio visual equipment.
A complete restoration of the Victorian tiled floor is included in the second phase. The plans also include reducing the size of the large Victorian pews so they are moveable and complementing them with new standard chairs. A modern LED lighting system would also be installed.
The final phase includes enlarging the church vestry to create a meeting room and extra toilets. Inner glass doors would be added at the road facing west entry, and the bell ringing chamber would be raised, giving a stunning view of the church to those entering from the road outside.
Jon said: “The end goal is that we will have a building that the community feel they own as much as the congregation, and it will be suitable for a wide range of worship and non-worship activities throughout the week.
“It will be warm and welcoming and fitted with 21st century facilities, such as sound, vision, heat and light as well as preserving and enhancing a wonderful building.”
Phase 1 of the project is already under way with work on the heating system having already started at a cost of around £85,000.
Jon added: “We won’t do work unless we know where the money is coming from. Thanks to some generous donations, the work of the Friends of St Mary’s and grants from the likes of the Oxfordshire Historic Church’s Trust we are able to do the initial phase. We have grant applications out to fund the subsequent phases.”
It is hoped the entire project will be completed by the end of 2024.
St Mary’s has stood on the hill dominating the village for a thousand years. The 198 foot spire can be seen from miles around drawing people homewards, an encouragement in the past to travellers making their way across a dangerous countryside. The first written evidence of the church is in a charter whereby William 1 granted it and the Rectory Estate to Westminster Abbey in 1067.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam