St Martin's Church, Bladon
| St Martin's Parish Church | |
| Parish Church of Saint Martin, Bladon | |
|---|---|
 St Martin's Parish Church
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | Parish of St Mary Magdalene, Woodstock and St Martin, Bladon, Oxfordshire |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Martin |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Oxford |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | (Interregnum) |
St Martin's Church in Bladon near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, is the Church of England parish church of Bladon-with-Woodstock. It is also the mother church of St Mary Magdalane at Woodstock, which was originally a chapel of ease. It is best known for the grave of Sir Winston Churchill in its churchyard.
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[edit] History
The first church on the current site was probably built around the 11th or 12th century, with the earliest references to it stating that John de London, Henry III's chaplain, obtained from the King a grant of the Manor of Bladon, with the advowson of the Rectory in 1269. The parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials date from 1545 and are kept at the Bodleian library in Oxford.
There is no record of the church building itself though, until 1802 when the parish petitioned the Bishop of Oxford to grant them a new building as the old one was becoming dilapidated and dangerous. Permission was granted, the old medieval church was demolished, the 4th Duke of Marlborough paid for building materials and the new church was opened in 1804.
In 1891 the architect A.W. Blomfield rebuilt the chancel, restored the nave and added new windows, and added pinnacles on the tower.[1] This work was carried out largely at the expense of the rector, Arthur Majendie, and resulted in the creation of the present church. Because of these efforts, three windows in the chancel are dedicated to his memory by his widow and children. Other feature windows in the church include a copy of Sir Joshua Reynolds' Choir of the Cherubs. In 1893, Majendie gave a lych gate in memory of his mother. In 1937, a statue of Saint Martin was placed in a niche over the porch.
[edit] The Churchill connection
Sir Winston Churchill had expressed a wish to be buried at Bladon, the small village close to the family home of Blenheim. So, on 30 January 1965, after his state funeral service at St Paul's Cathedral, London, his body was transported by train to nearby Hanborough railway station and thence to Bladon. There, the private burial took place, conducted by the rector. By contrast to the earlier service, only relatives and close friends were present.
In 1998 his tombstone had to be replaced because of the large number of visitors over the years having eroded it and its surrounding area. A new stone was dedicated in a ceremony attended by members of the Spencer-Churchill family.[2] However after only eight years the gravestone had become dirty and partially eroded again. In July 2006 the area of the graveyard containing Churchill's grave was closed to the public and a cleaning and restoration project restored the gravestone.
The churchyard also contains the graves of Winston's parents Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Randolph Churchill, his younger brother John or Jack, his children Diana Randolph, and Sarah, and his-son-in-law Christopher Soames. Other Churchill family members buried there include Consuelo Vanderbilt, former Duchess of Marlborough through her marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough, and their son Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill.
[edit] References
- ^ Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 459
- ^ "New grave honours Churchill". BBC News. 1998-05-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/89507.stm. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
[edit] Sources and further reading
- Crossley, Alan; Elrington, C.R. (eds.); Baggs, A.P.; Blair, W.J.; Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Cooper, Janet; Day, C.J. et al. (1990). A History of the County of Oxford, Volume 12: Wootton Hundred (South) including Woodstock. Victoria County History. pp. 31–34. Accessed: 30 November 2006
- Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 459. ISBN 0 14 071045 0.
[edit] External links
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