Church Of St Michael

NEWTON PURCELL WITH SHELSWELL CHURCH LANE SP63SW (East side) Newton Purcell 5/66 Church of St. Michael 07/12/66

GV II

Church. C12 origins. Repaired in 1813, restoration of 1875-6 by C.N. Beazley amounting to a rebuilding leaving only the foundations of the original walls. C12 doorway moved from the north to the south entrance. C19 bell-gables vestry and porch. Stucco with limestone quoins. C20-tile roof. Combined nave and chancel. 3-window range. South doorway has C12 zig-zag decoration and a dove and serpents in the tympanum. Late C19, 2- and 3-light lancet windows throughout and a C14 ogee-headed window in south wall of chancel. Interior, C13 piscina and aumbry. C19 fixtures and fittings and a C17 parish chest. C13 incised slab commemorating a heart burial. Marble wall memorials to Gilbert Harrison, merchant d.1790 and to other members of the Harrison family of Shelswell Park. Nave north window has early C19 stained glass in the manner of Eginton. Other C18 wall memorials to Edward and Samuel Trotman. On a stone plinth to left of porch, two C17 limestone effigies from Shelswell Church, which was demolished in 1810. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: 1974, p717 and p753; VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol VI, pp266-7)

Listing NGR: SP6251030813