Church Of St Edburg

Church of St. Edburg

This is a substantial parish church of cruciform plan with north chancel aisle, nave aisles, west tower and north porch. The building developed over several centuries, probably originating in the 11th century with additions and alterations through the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, further work in the 15th and 16th centuries, and a major restoration in 1862 by C.N. Beazley in consultation with G.E. Street. The walls are constructed in part-coursed limestone rubble with ashlar and some marlstone-ashlar dressings, with lead and Welsh-slate roofs.

The restored chancel retains 12th-century ashlar clasping buttresses and a small Gothic priest's door to the south, but most of its fenestration is 19th-century, including a 5-light east window and 2- and 3-light side windows in Geometrical-Decorated style. The north aisle, which formerly incorporated a priest's dwelling, contains two square-headed 15th-century windows facing east with cinquefoil lights and labels, one originally serving an upper floor. A 15th-century stair with 3-centre arched entrance projects at the north-east angle. The north wall has two 2-light 19th-century windows and a blocked rubble archway in its lower part.

The north transept retains fragments of a 12th-century chevron string course, interrupted by a large 4-centre-arched 5-light window with Perpendicular drop tracery and deep casement mould. A later western extension has a restored 2-light window with reticulated tracery and the outline of an arched opening, continuing westwards into the narrow early 14th-century north aisle, which retains two 2-light 14th-century windows to the north and a later large single-light window to the west.

The 14th-century porch has an entrance arch with wave mouldings, sheltering the north door with earlier 14th-century mouldings. Its small 2-light traceried window to the west is also 14th-century, whilst the 2-light east window is 15th-century, as is the former upper floor with its square-headed 2-light north window and crenellated parapet.

The south transept contains remains of the 12th-century chevron string and a large restored Perpendicular window. It was extended eastwards, probably in the 15th century, but now has a 19th-century east window similar to those in the chancel. The south aisle is early 13th-century with three restored 3-light 14th-century windows to the south and a 15th-century parapet panelled with quatrefoils. It retains a fine doorway with a deeply-moulded arch and three orders of shafts (two detached and one enlarged) with four early stiff-leaf capitals. Above the door are fragments of carved stonework, probably from tombs in the demolished church of Bicester Priory. The west wall contains a 3-light 16th-century window with uncusped heads and a label.

The 16th-century clerestory has four arched windows to the north and four square-headed windows to the south, all with two uncusped 4-centre-arched lights. Over the crossing is a large square-headed 15th-century window, facing south, with four cinquefoil lights within a deep casement moulding. On the north face is a fine lead rainwater head, decorated with moulded shafting and ornamental cresting, dated 1655; two plainer lead heads on the north clerestory are dated 1704.

The three-stage battlemented tower, with heavy moulded plinth and strings plus diagonal stepped buttresses, has an arched west door with quatrefoil spandrels, set within a deep casement moulding and with large blank shields terminating the label drops. The large 2-light window above was probably altered in 1750, the date inscribed in the casement moulding. The bell chamber stage has 2-light arched openings with Perpendicular tracery and transoms, though the panelled and crocketed pinnacles are probably 17th or 18th-century.

The interior of the chancel is entirely 19th-century except for the wide archway to the north, of three chamfered orders, which is probably early 14th-century. The round-headed chancel arch, of unchamfered orders, is matched by tall plain transept arches of one order with linked abaci, probably 11th-century and forming part of a pseudo-cruciform arrangement with narrower flanking transepts but not necessarily with a fourth arch to the west.

The four-bay south arcade of c.1200 has pointed arches with deep angle rolls, probably later reinforced by inner chamfered orders and partly rebuilt. These arches rest on late 14th-century clustered columns set diagonally, one retaining the remains of crocketed canopy work; the moulded capitals to the responds survive but the three main capitals are 19th-century. Salvaged panels of carved stonework are set in the spandrels. The arch from the south transept to the aisle is entirely 14th-century except for re-used Transitional capitals with square abaci and stiff-leaf foliage.

The three-bay north arcade of c.1300 has arches of three chamfered orders set on octagonal columns with moulded capitals, one decorated with pellets. A crude triangular-headed arch to the east is probably simply a large squint linked with the western extension of the transept. The outer spandrels of the arcade retain sections of the 12th-century chevron band, formerly external.

The fine tall narrow tower arch is 15th or early 16th-century. Except for the chancel, all roofs are probably 15th or 16th-century with moulded timbers. The nave roof, noted as renewed in 1803 though appearing 16th-century, has large cambered tiebeams with pierced panelled infill to the trusses and to the spandrels of the curved braces.

The church contains a 15th-century screen in the north transept with two tiers of traceried panels and a strange tapering polygonal font with 18th-century flat wooden cover. The vestry screen in the north chancel aisle, with 19th-century painted decoration on a gilt ground, is signed "H.L. Busby 1882". There are four ancient chests, one dated 163(?), another 1668. A small window over the priest's door is said to contain 14th-century glass; the remainder of the stained glass, mainly in the chancel and south aisle, is 19th-century, including a window of 1866 by Morris and Co. with panels by Burne-Jones and Webb, one of 1853 by O'Connor, and two by Mayer and Co. of Munich.

The numerous monuments include a 15th-century figure brass, 17th-century engraved brasses, tablets and carved cartouches, and many elaborate 18th-century wall monuments. The large marble memorial to Sir Thomas Grantham (died 1718) by Delvaux and Scheemakers has weeping cherubs supporting a large portrait medallion against a fine Baroque surround. A monument to Sir Edward Page Turner (died 1766) by Joseph Wilton features a large urn and portrait medallions. Among many monuments to the Cokers of Bicester House is a relief of c.1794 by Sir Richard Westmacott.