St Mary's Church, Chastleton
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Chastleton, Oxfordshire, England. It is a parish church in the parish of Little Compton, along with those of Cornwell, Daylesford and Little Rollright. The parish is part of the Team Benefice of Chipping Norton, along with the parishes of Chipping Norton with Over Norton, Churchill and Kingham. The Benefice of Chipping Norton is part of the Diocese of Oxford. The church was built in about AD 1100 and enlarged in 1320. The present bell-tower was added in 1689. The church was restored in 1878–80 to designs by CE Powell and is a Grade II* listed building. History St Mary's parish church was built in about AD 1100. All that remains of the original Norman church are a door in the north wall, the arched pillars and possibly the baptismal font. In about 1320 the chancel was built, part of the north wall was widened and the south aisle was added to form chantry chapels. South aisle chapel The chapel received its charter as a chantry in 1336. Robert Trillowe, who lived on the site of Chastleton House, was probably the patron. The floor has medieval glazed fired floor-tiles which almost certainly date from the 14th century. The east window depicts the four Evangelists. The South window shows scenes from the childhood of Jesus. The panelling on the east wall is 17th century, as are the pews. The ceiling is Victorian and bears the coats of arms of five successive families of the Manor of Chastleton: Trillowe, Catesby, Jones, Whitmore and Whitmore-Jones. In a vault below the chapel lie the remains of some of these families. The altar was designed in 1993 by Mr Poole from the nearby village of Oddington, Gloucestershire and matches the adjoining 14th-century pillars. Chancel The carved woodwork behind the altar may well be the remains of the rood screen which once stood above the chancel arch. Below the chancel were tombs of some of the Jones family, as well as those of some of the former parish rectors. Horatio Westmacott, rector in the 1880s was the third son of the famous Victorian sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott. On the floor of the south aisle near the lectern are two brasses. One commemorates the grandmother of Robert Catesby, Katherine Throckmorton, who died in 1592. The other commemorates Edmund Ansley, who died in 1613. The vestry was added in 1853. Pulpit and pews The pulpit is Jacobean, possibly by the same craftsman who made much of the panelling in Chastleton House. It is marked with the date 1623. Originally sited on the other side of the chancel arch, it was built as a triple-decker, with integral reading desk and clerk's desk. The pews in the nave and chancel are Victorian. These replaced Jacobean oak benches and pews with high backs, of which three remain in the South aisle chapel. North aisle and organ The organ now hides a stone piscina, which is the only