Church of St Olave

The Church of St Olave is a Grade II* listed building located in Fritwell. It dates from the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries and was restored and partly rebuilt in 1864 by G.E. Street. The church is constructed from coursed squared limestone rubble, with limestone ashlar and some marlstone ashlar dressings, topped with lead, Stonesfield-slate, and plain-tile roofs. The layout includes a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, a west tower, and a south porch.

The restored 13th-century chancel features a 19th-century east window, a small lancet window to the north, and an ogee-headed 14th-century lancet to the south. The buttresses include carved panelling from the 15th century. The narrow lean-to south aisle has a small lancet to the east and a restored lancet to the west, along with square-headed 14th and 15th-century windows on the south side, comprising two and three lights. A fine 12th-century doorway, sheltered by a 19th-century porch, is adorned with chevron ornament and a tympanum carved with two beasts devouring a tree. The north aisle, also parapetted in marlstone, has similar windows to the north, while the east and west windows are traceried. The 12th-century doorway here is simpler but features a cable mould around the arch. The rebuilt tower has a pyramid roof and includes tall two-light 13th-century bell-chamber openings with plate tracery.

Inside, the chancel contains a re-sited column piscina or stoup from around 1200, and the north wall features a Romanesque former chancel arch of two orders, with the outer order displaying chevron decoration. The chancel arch is from the 19th century, while the nave arcades consist of four bays with two chamfered orders, likely 13th-century on the south side with round columns and some nailhead ornament, and 14th-century on the north side with octagonal columns. The roofs, including a crown-post roof in the nave, and all fittings are from the 19th century, except for a panelled 14th-century font that tapers towards the base and a western gallery made from Jacobean woodwork added in 1901.