St Mary's Church, Banbury

St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the Diocese of Oxford. The church is a Grade I listed building.[2]

St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church, seen from the west
Map
52°03′41″N 1°20′21″W / 52.061483°N 1.339084°W / 52.061483; -1.339084
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipCentral
History
StatusActive
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Heritage designationGrade I listed
Architect(s)Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Charles Robert Cockerell
Administration
DioceseDiocese of Oxford
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Dorchester
ParishBanbury St. Mary
Clergy
Vicar(s)The Revd Serena Tajima[1]
NSM(s)The Revd Canon Jeff West
Laity
Organist/Director of musicDylan McCaig

History

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St Mary's Church was built in the 1790s to replace the Medieval one damaged during the English Civil War. The church was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, with a tower and portico added by Charles Robert Cockerell in 1818 to 1822.[2]

The inside of the church was re-ordered in the 1860s and 1870s by the then vicar Henry Back, an Anglo-Catholic, to make it more suitable for Eucharistic worship. He commissioned Arthur Blomfield to oversee the re-ordering and to decorate the church in a Byzantine style.[3] It was during this time that stained-glass windows designed by Robert Turnill Bayne (1837–1915) were added, including one depicting The Parable of the Talents.

Present day

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St Mary's Church stands in the Central tradition of the Church of England.[4] It is a member of Inclusive Church.[5]

From 1993, the church was shared by the Church of England and the United Reformed Church; it was not, however, a Local Ecumenical Partnership.[3][6] This agreement ended by the time of the 2019 vacancy.[5]

The church's Resurrection Chapel is home to one of the 84 Lamps of Brotherhood that were made after World War II as a sign of reconciliation between nations.[7]

Notable clergy

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References

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  1. ^ "The next chapter". St Mary Church, Banbury. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST MARY (1369519)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Pairsh Profile: St Mary's Church, Banbury" (PDF). Diocese of Oxford. November 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Banbury St Mary, Banbury". A Church Near You. Archbishops' Council. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. ^ a b "St Mary's Church Banbury: Parish Profile" (PDF). Diocese of Oxford. April 2019. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. ^ "The United Reformed Church". St Mary's Church, Banbury. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. ^ "St. Mary, Banbury, Oxon". Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  8. ^ "David Thomson". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1940-41 Oxford, OUP, 1941
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