Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary began as a Cistercian abbey, founded in 1150, and subsequently served as a parish church. It underwent significant additions and alterations in the early 18th century (1730), followed by a vestry addition in 1884-85, a restoration in 1913, and an ambulatory addition in 1973. The structure is primarily composed of large blocks of red sandstone, sourced from Scotland across the Solway Firth, with a graduated greenslate roof and Welsh slate on the porch and vestry.

The church comprises a 6-bay nave/chancel, originally the nave of the Abbey Church (initially 9 bays), with aisles that have since been removed, along with a west twin bellcote and a north vestry/organ chamber. A two-story west porch features a round arch bearing a Latin inscription dedicated to Robert Chambers, Abbot in 1507, and displaying his coat of arms. The upper floor of the porch was rebuilt in 1730 with a further Latin inscription, flanked by two-light lancet windows. Statue recesses, characteristic of 1507, are positioned on either side of the arch, with a door on the right providing access to a small chamber. A lead-paned ambulatory extension, built in 1973, links the church to an adjoining library and shop and is distinguished by its windows in chamfered surrounds. The side walls of the nave, dating to 1730, feature round-headed casement windows with glazing bars on two levels. The west wall projects on either side, stepped to imitate buttresses. A Perpendicular east window, dating to approximately 1604, was repositioned during the 1730 alterations and is flanked by former nave aisle columns. The interior of the porch and ambulatory contain grave slabs commemorating various abbots and members of the Chambers family of Raby Cote. The heavily moulded west portal consists of four orders of shaft columns with intricately carved waterleaf capitals. Internally, the arcades have piers of clustered columns with waterleaf capitals, supporting pointed arches that are now blocked to form the north and south walls. The pre-Reformation open timber roof was lowered in 1604; a restoration date of 1913 is inscribed on a corbel. A Norman gallery at the west end now provides access to the former vestry. Other features include Royal Arms of Queen Victoria, a free-standing bust of Joseph Saul by Joshua Anderson, a Jacobean carved oak chair, and two oak muniment chests dating from the 15th or early 16th century. The church also contains 20th-century furnishings and fittings, as well as stained glass from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Dissolution, the Abbey was granted to Oxford University.