Great Milton Parish Church 
Sign board and west front of Great Milton Parish Church.
View from Church Road.
West front and 15th-century tower at sunset.
View from the southwest, with 14th-century south porch.
North side.
North side of the tower; west side of the south aisle and porch.
Roof boss in the south porch.
Canopy of the Dormer Monument (1618).
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, is a 14th-century rebuild of a 12th-century Norman church.
History
Great Milton's church was first built in the 12th century, without aisles. The side aisles were added in the 13th century.
The church was largely rebuilt after a fire in the early 14th century; the aisle, south porch and east half of the chancel date from this period.
The west tower was built in the 15th century and in 1592 the nave roof was renewed (as attested by an inscription on the east tie-beam).
The church was thoroughly restored in 1850 by G.G. Scott.
What to See
The blocked windows on the north side of the nave indicate the church was originally aisleless. The westernmost bay of the south arcade is Transitional in style and dates from c.1200; it has an unchamfered pointed arch and a hood of square section.
The arch between the nave and chancel is Early English. The elaborate double piscina in the south aisle is by Scott and remodeled from early fragments. The pulpit is Jacobean and the reredos is from 1875 by A.W. Blomfield.
The quatrefoil clerestory windows are 14th century; the window over the chancel arch is Perpendicular. The south wall has an Early English lancet window. The main lights in the east window of the north aisle are from 1915, but the two lower tracery lights contain two early 14th-century scenes, believed to be of Lazarus begging (left) and the death of Lazarus (right).
The chancel was remodeled in the 13th century. The tiles are 14th century and there are two 15th-century carved bench-ends in the chancel; one has a chalice and two cruets.
A round-headed lancet window in the north wall and a blocked lancet in the south wall opposite date from the 12th century. The three lancet windows in the chancel are 12th and 13th century; the remaining windows are Decorated.
The sedilia were constructed by Scott in 1851 in the Perpendicular style using original fragments. The chancel's square-headed piscina dates from the 15th century and cuts into an earlier, possibly 13th-century, one.
Great Milton Parish Church contains several historic and artistically notable monuments. Two slabs with finely carved foliated crosses date from the late 13th century and there are fragments of a 14th-century stone effigy. Brass memorials to Robert Eggersley and his wife (c.1500) have 6-inch figures.
Under the tower is the impressive and finely carved alabaster Dormer monument. Dedicated to Sir Michael Dormer (d.1616), his wife, and his father Sir Ambrose Dormer, the monument is by an unknown sculptor and was moved here from the south aisle in 1860. Three effigies lie under a canopy with allegorical figures of Youth, Death, Age and Time. Reliefs in the spandrels include King David and Death with his dart.
Quick Facts
| Names: | Great Milton Parish Church; Great Milton St. Mary the Virgin; St. Mary the Virgin; St. Mary's Church |
| Type of site: | Parish church |
| Faith: | Anglican (originally Roman Catholic) |
| Status: | Active |
| Dates: | 12th century but mostly rebuilt after an early 14th century fire |
| Architecture: | Norman (Romanesque) |
| Address: | Church Road, Great Milton, Oxfordshire OX44 7PN |
| Phone: | Revd. Victor Story: 01844 279498 |
| Website: | None |
| Hours: | Kept locked; get keys from Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons next door |
| Cost: | Free |
Location Map
Location map and satellite view of Great Milton Parish Church. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our England Map or get our free Google Earth download.
Sources
- Personal visits (May-July 2007)
- Nikolaus Pevsner and Jennifer Sherwood, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire (Yale University Press, 2002), 562-63.
