St Peter's First Turn Wolvercote

 There’s probably been a church on the St Peter’s site for some 1000 years. The present church, which can seat about 200 people, was substantially rebuilt in 1860. However, it has retained much of its earlier character with a Saxon font and the Perpendicular square tower which houses a set of six bells and has an unusual sun-dial on two of its faces. Inside the church there is a window by John Piper and a notable 17th century tomb, the Walter Tomb. Please use the links at the bottom of the page to find out more the Walter Tomb, the window, the organ and the development project which funded recent developments. There is also a link to information about our Parish Registers.

History

A 2015 24pp colour history of the church, written by Ann Spokes-Symonds is on sale inside the church price £2.00 or on application from info@stpeterswolvercote.org.

The following text is adapted from The Church and Parish of St Peter Wolvercote written by Cedric Venables (privately printed at the University Press, Oxford in 1976).

The present church building dates from 1860. It replaced an earlier smaller church which was built in the Perpendicular period (1377-1485). Records held at Merton College, the patron of St Peter’s, indicate that the church chancel was built in 1482. It is possible that the nave was built then as well, but of that 15th century church, only the tower now remains. The rest was pulled down to build the church as we know it today. The total cost of rebuilding the church in stone in 1860 was £1,997.3s.1d.

The Tower

The church consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and the tower. The tower has interesting relics of the past in two sundials. Between the two is the inscription ‘Redeem the Time‘. The stroke marking the hour of nine is more deeply cut, perhaps to remind parishioners that High Mass – as it was before the Reformation – was celebrated at that hour. When the Oxford Movement began to influence the Church of England in the mid-19th century, it soon affected Wolvercote which became one of the first churches in Oxford to use eucharistic vestments. Quite early after the opening of the present church Choral Eucharist was celebrated at 9:00am each Sunday for nearly 50 years. On Easter Day in 1910, the vicar – Rev. E. A. Sydenham – noted in church records that Choral Eucharist was celebrated for the first time in church history, at 11:00.

The choir and clergy vestries are new additions to the church. They were built in 1935 and dedicated by the Bishop of Oxford.

The font stands in the tower, surrounded by the six bell ropes. The font probably dates from the 12th century although it’s Saxon in style and is carved out of a single block of stone with a diamond patterned rim. Providing a continuous thread between the different church buildings on this site, it’s remarkable to think of the number of children who have been baptised in it.

The high chancel arch gives an impression of space, as does the fine arch at the west end of the nave. The latter arch may be all that’s left intact of the Norman church, although it’s also possible that the tower was built of stone from that original church.

The Churchyard

Nearly 40 years ago, members of the Wolvercote Women's Institute surveyed all the monuments in St Peter's churchyard.  In making the record, Teresa Lisemore, Isobel May, Virginia Royds and Alma Woods used a list of inscriptions dated September 11, 1882, drawn up by Mr William Plowman. A number of the earlier inscriptions which he recorded were partly or wholly illegible by 1983. Pollution has since destroyed nearly 30% of the remaining inscriptions. Inscriptions recorded in 1882, but not found in 1983 are also recorded . Information from the Parish Registers was added where it differs from or supplements the inscriptions.
Former Churchwarden Michael Daniells digitized the survey, taking the opportunity to update the graveyard plan to take account of stones moved when the Old School Room was restored and the Parish Room built in 2011. Open the survey.