Shipton Solers

 

 Descend from the high wolds near the remote villages of Guiting Power and Hawling, down towards Andoversford in the valley below. If you follow the old Gloucester road, rather than the busy A40 you will approach the twin villages as travellers have for hundreds of years. A ribbon of houses that skirts the margins of an infant River Coln, the waters of which glister over two fords and through many a clear pool between clumps of yellow flags, dividing the two villages.

Shipton or 'sheep farm' was divided into two parishes in the middle ages each with it's own small church, though they are barely a mile apart. Shipton Oliffe long in the ownership of the Oliffe family grew in importance and when the two parishes were united in 1766 St. Mary's Shipton Solers fell out of use. By 1883 St. Mary's was reduced to a cow byre and only the intervention of the rector Charles Pugh and his wife saved the church for future generations.

St. Oswald, Shipton Oliffe, a small Norman church with 13th century additions, stands below the level of the road. Once owned by the Abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester the church has a 13th century west bellcote with two bells above two gothic windows inserted by H. A. Prothero in 1903-4. A blocked Norman north door gives evidence of the church's early origins while the Early English chancel has retained many of it's original features including an east window with a shafted rere-arcade. The chancel has an Early Decorated south window, a stepped sedilia and a rare Late Decorated canopied piscina. A 13th century south chapel is separated from the nave by a two-bay arcade inserted by Prothero in 1904. The church has a Perpendicular octagonal font, a pulpit by W. Ellery Anderson 1937 and a plaster 19th century Royal Arms. There is an area of wall painting above the chancel arch which may be early 13th century and other texts of the 17th and 18th centuries. The east window has stained glass by Burlison and Grylls. In the churchyard are an interesting collection of tea-caddy tombs.

St. Mary, Shipton Solers was probably consecrated in 1212 as this date was inscribed over the chancel, a discovery made during the sympathetic 1929-30 restoration by W.E. Ellery Anderson. A simple 13th century church of nave and chancel with a west bell-cote added in 1884, lengthened in the Perpendicular period. Most of the windows reflect this 15th century refurbishment although a 13th century lancet survives in the chancel. North and south doors face each other across the nave, the south door appears to be late medieval. When passing through the Early English chancel arch you step down into the chancel, an unusual feature probably a consequence of the sloping ground. Perpendicular king-posts support a wagon roof with carved bosses. Consecration crosses painted in red lead survive in both nave and chancel, possibly late medieval in date, the nave walls have post-Reformation biblical texts. The altar is a 13th century stone mensa found buried beneath the floor during the restoration work carried out in 1929-30. An elaborate painted reredos was carved by Ellery Anderson in 1929, oak panelling was fitted at this time. The nave has a Jacobean pulpit with tester and a modern hourglass stand (the original was stolen) which dates from the 1660 Restoration when sermons were meant to last for over an hour. At the west end of the nave is an octagonal 15th century font. There are a few fragments of medieval glass as well as several attractive 1930s windows by Geoffrey Webb whose web signature can be seen beneath a depiction of the Madonna and Child. Two of the windows have rebus designs, one depicting a house amongst fields of corn commemorates Ernest Fieldhouse while the other shows a ship and tun representing Shipton. St. Mary's is now in the able custody of The Churches Conservation Trust.

The Shiptons are near Andoversford 7miles from Cheltenam, just over an hour from Stratford-upon-Avon.

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Shorthampton

A Norman chapel stands on the steep hillside above Chadlington. On a cold day in March the wind drives snow across the churchyard and rattles resilient patches of snowdrops. How many snows has this simple building seen, how many travellers have sought shelter from a howling storm, having climbed the steep hill from the River Evenlode below. Standing among the yew trees, on the bone-rich ground, the view from the churchyard is ancient, little altered by the passing years. At the end of a narrow lane All Saints has a few cottages for company, it is hard to tell whether these humble buildings are survivors of a larger village or have always stood isolated among the fields. It is easier to imagine the numberless generations of locals summoned here by bells to celebrate the passing ceremonies of Christian calendar.
The exterior of All Saints is austere, a simple two-cell Norman chapel extended to the south in the 15th century with a Georgian east window added during a major early restoration. The church consists of nave, chancel, an east belfry and 19th century south porch although outer and inner doors appear much earlier in date. Step inside and you are confronted by the Middle Ages in all it's symbolic complexity and the belief that the intervention of saints can influence our daily lives. A palimpsest, medieval saints overwritten with later biblical texts cover large areas of the nave walls, giving a faded impression of the elaborate decorative schemes that were common to all our pre-Reformation churches. A round-headed lancet survives in the north wall of the nave. The small 13th century chancel arch of two pointed chamfered orders is off-centre due to the nave being extended to the south. The south wall has two Perpendicular windows, a doorway and a piscina to the east, all of a similar date. A large squint to the south of the chancel arch connects nave and sanctuary. The west wall of the nave has a Tudor window and a blocked Georgian opening which may once have been one main doors of the church. An atmosphere of antiquity is emphasised by the 18th century pulpit, reading desk and box pews which tower over the east end of the nave. Opposite the door is a Norman tub font which has seen over 900 years of service. If you look through the Georgian east window of the chancel the tower of Spelsbury church can be seen in the distance, the chancel was rebuilt in the 18th century re-using a Decorated window in the south wall.
The real rarity of All Saints is the fortunate survival of several passages of medieval decoration preserved from destruction under a layer of whitewash. The earliest decoration surviving surrounds the 13th century round-headed north nave window, red lines mimic the pattern of stonework and small red floral motifs have been added to the window splay.
To the left of the blocked north door is an early 14th century representation of St Frideswide, an 8th century princess who became a nun, choosing the church over a royal suitor, who was blinded when he attempted to force her into marriage. She became patron saint of Oxford and although her shrine was destroyed in the Reformation she is believed to be buried in Christ Church, Oxford.
To the right of the door is the early 14th century figure of an archbishop, which might be St Edmund of Abingdon or a rare survival of an image of St Thomas a Becket, a particular target for iconoclasts due to his defiance of royal authority. The image shows the archbishop teaching a child to read.
To the west of the round-headed window is a fragmentary 14th century priest thought to be a depiction of St Leonard, patron saint of Eynsham Abbey, who owned the patronage of Shorthampton.
Over the chancel arch the remains of a Doom have been obscured by a Royal Coat of Arms. The Last Judgement, with the just ascending to heaven while sinners are thrown into the mouth of hell, is a common subject for the chancel arch, after the Reformation every church had to display the Royal Arms.
The squint was inserted in the 15th century to enable those in the widened southern portion of the nave to be able to witness the elevation of the host, during the celebration of the Mass. A 15th century "The Legend of the Clay Birds" is depicted inside the squint, the Virgin Mary holds the Christ child and St John, although St.John might be holding a Goldfinch. The legend derives from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of St Thomas which describes the Christ child making clay birds which he then brings to life.
To the right of this is "the Agony in the Garden" but there are two layers of paint which makes the imagery difficult to read.
The left reveal of the easterly south window of the nave has a small mid-15th century figure in an elaborate green dress. This is St Sitha, also known as Zita of Lucca, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants, often depicted holding a set of keys and said to help supplicants in finding items they have lost.
Between this window and the south door is a 15th century panel which shows St Loy or the "Legend of St Eligius", patron saint of blacksmiths and metalworkers, depicted shoeing a horse. A 7th century goldsmith famous for the building of churches.
Biblical texts replaced images of saints in the reign of Eward VI who ordered their destruction in 1548. The Creed appears on a large panel over the door and the west wall has a cartouche containing King Solomon's prayer. Also on the west wall is a disembodied wing probably the remains of "George and the Dragon" though possibly the Archangel Michael. There are also many small fragments of wall painting including foliate decoration round the chancel arch.
All in all a wonderful voyage through time. Shorthampton is a few miles from Chipping Norton about 40 minutes from Stratford-upon-Avon

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