The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul stands on Deddington ridge and its tower can be seen for many miles around.
It’s mostly constructed of local ironstone quarried from the church pits which are in a field about a mile to the north of the church and it first appears in historical records in 1254.
At one time, there was a tall steeple which, with the bell tower, collapsed and crashed into the body of the church in March 1634. Enormous damage was done and the church was not usable for several years.
Rebuilding work brought the church to its present form with a strong tower flanked by massive buttresses and topped with eight splendid gold weather vanes.
On the west side of the tower are two statues representing St. Peter and St. Paul which are part medieval and part 17th century.
The clock was a later addition, a gift of the heirs of William Hudson, a local draper. It has an 18ft pendulum and cost £176 in 1832. Until 1989 the clock was wound by-hand; someone climbed to the top of the tower four times a week and cranked the heavy winding mechanism which has now been replaced by an electric winder.
The tower contains a set of eight bells. The original six were requisitioned for making weapons by Charles I and were not replaced until 1791. They are rung by an enthusiastic team of bell ringers and can be heard on Sundays, at practice times, as well as for weddings and funerals.
In recent years, the bells needed repairing and enough money was collected locally to have them taken down, the bearings renewed and the bells returned and rehung.
The bicentenary of six of the bells was celebrated by a country fair in 1991. The other two bells date from 1946 and were donated by A.J. Morris to commemorate the Deddington Home Guard.
You enter the church by the 19th Century South Porch. Just round to your right in the wall is a lancet opening with stairs which once led to a priest's room above the former porch.
Moving to the centre of the church, you pass the kitchen facilities which were installed towards the end of the 20th century and turning left, you come to the font. The 13th century font was smashed when the tower fell and the newer one was first used in 1663. The present font is mid-Victorian; the cover is of a later date and on both this and the right hand side of the heavy west door frame is the carver's trademark of a squirrel.
Moving to the north wall you pass a list of clergy who have served here.
Opposite the south entrance is another porch. This originates from the 15th century and was used as an access to the church from the then rectory, the big house to the north of the church. This is Castle House which sometimes goes by the name of the Old Parsonage and is generally agreed to be where Charles I stayed during a royal progress through Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1644. The fan tracery and the domed roof of the North Porch are worth looking at. To the left of the porch is the Living Room built at the beginning of the 21st century which is used for a variety of activities including meetings, boys brigade meetings, internet café, carer sessions and as a crèche during services.
On the wall near the north porch is a set of wooden battlefield crosses, preserved from the original graves of local men killed during the 1914-1918 war and subsequently re-interred by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Moving along the north wall near a window you will see a set of stone steps which are matched, by a similar set on the opposite side of the church. These were the supports for wooden stairs, which at one time led to a second floor. There were several chapels up there until the Reformation, and the upper row of six windows provided the light for them.
Moving further along the north wall you will see the Grant of Arms and the much worn monument of William Billing, merchant of the staple at Calais. He died in 1533.
The Lady Chapel has two stained-glass windows (1928 and 1936) and were designed by the artist A.J. Davies. One shows the Virgin Mary with Hannah and St George and the other Christ and the Children.
A brass fixed to the wall depicts the upper part of a bearded man of Edward Ill's reign.
Moving along to the chancel you will come to the screen, heavily restored but containing some 15th century workmanship. The brackets on top would have held the pre-reformation rood figures. The chancel is narrow compared with the main body of the church and the floor has been raised, so that the 13 century piscina on the right appears unusually low in the wall.
The stained-glass east window was made in 1888 by C.E. Kempe, one of the best known artists in that medium of his day.
The choir stalls date from 1865 and the organ was built in 1912 by J.J. Binns of Leeds. Its casing was designed by Hare and made by Franklin's of Deddington.
In the sanctuary you will see three 13th century sedilia with carved capitals.
Turning back, you will face the main body of the church, large and spacious with wide aisles, columns and arches. Even so, the church was not large enough for the congregation in the early 19th century when a vicar called Richard Greaves filled the church to overflowing.
A gallery was put up at the west end to seat more people and one of the worshippers at that time was the Oxford student John Henry Newman, later Cardinal Newman.
The pulpit and the lectern were made at the turn of the century by the Franklin family of Deddington.
The kneeling desk has some interesting carvings on one side including a cat and the Green Man.
On the east end of the south wall is St Thomas's Chapel and beneath is a vaulted charnel house.
The altar was given by Dr. Maurice Frost who was Vicar of Deddington from 1924 until 1961 and in May 2010 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of his work, “the historical companion to Hymns ancient and modern” by hosting choirs from the Church of the Resurrection, Mafikeng, South Africa, the Sofiakyrkan/Dalvik Kyrka Choir from Sweden and the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle to celebrate the life and specifically the hymnological work of the Revd. Frost.
Coming back to the south wall you will see an effigy believed to be of a local judge Ralph de Beriford who owned land in Barford St. John in the 14th Century. On the same wall on the other side of the porch is the splendid family memorial of the Harris family, which has three hedgehogs on the crest. Mr. Harris was a Deddington butcher who became famous for his pork sausages and pies.
You are now back at the south porch. On each side of the entrance are what little remains of the first 13th century walls.
Those of you who are interested in needlework might want to see the new Mothers' Union banner which was designed by Amanda Gray and worked by the Deddington Craft Group. It was dedicated in 1992. The craft group also created the St. Peter and St. Paul banner which hangs in St. Thomas’s Chapel. It was finished in 2006 and bares the initials of Stella Marmion, Delphine Sampson and Winifred Holt.
Please also look at the beautiful altar frontal made with gold and silver leather. It depicts the keys associated with St. Peter and the sword of St. Paul and was donated in 1991 by Mrs. Sheila Reece.
Feel free to look around the church. There is a prayer station in the Lady Chapel and you are welcome to join us for all of our services.
There is also a visitor’s book on the desk near the door and we would welcome your thoughts.
We hope you enjoy your time in Deddington.
Thank you.
It’s mostly constructed of local ironstone quarried from the church pits which are in a field about a mile to the north of the church and it first appears in historical records in 1254.
At one time, there was a tall steeple which, with the bell tower, collapsed and crashed into the body of the church in March 1634. Enormous damage was done and the church was not usable for several years.
Rebuilding work brought the church to its present form with a strong tower flanked by massive buttresses and topped with eight splendid gold weather vanes.
On the west side of the tower are two statues representing St. Peter and St. Paul which are part medieval and part 17th century.
The clock was a later addition, a gift of the heirs of William Hudson, a local draper. It has an 18ft pendulum and cost £176 in 1832. Until 1989 the clock was wound by-hand; someone climbed to the top of the tower four times a week and cranked the heavy winding mechanism which has now been replaced by an electric winder.
The tower contains a set of eight bells. The original six were requisitioned for making weapons by Charles I and were not replaced until 1791. They are rung by an enthusiastic team of bell ringers and can be heard on Sundays, at practice times, as well as for weddings and funerals.
In recent years, the bells needed repairing and enough money was collected locally to have them taken down, the bearings renewed and the bells returned and rehung.
The bicentenary of six of the bells was celebrated by a country fair in 1991. The other two bells date from 1946 and were donated by A.J. Morris to commemorate the Deddington Home Guard.
You enter the church by the 19th Century South Porch. Just round to your right in the wall is a lancet opening with stairs which once led to a priest's room above the former porch.
Moving to the centre of the church, you pass the kitchen facilities which were installed towards the end of the 20th century and turning left, you come to the font. The 13th century font was smashed when the tower fell and the newer one was first used in 1663. The present font is mid-Victorian; the cover is of a later date and on both this and the right hand side of the heavy west door frame is the carver's trademark of a squirrel.
Moving to the north wall you pass a list of clergy who have served here.
Opposite the south entrance is another porch. This originates from the 15th century and was used as an access to the church from the then rectory, the big house to the north of the church. This is Castle House which sometimes goes by the name of the Old Parsonage and is generally agreed to be where Charles I stayed during a royal progress through Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1644. The fan tracery and the domed roof of the North Porch are worth looking at. To the left of the porch is the Living Room built at the beginning of the 21st century which is used for a variety of activities including meetings, boys brigade meetings, internet café, carer sessions and as a crèche during services.
On the wall near the north porch is a set of wooden battlefield crosses, preserved from the original graves of local men killed during the 1914-1918 war and subsequently re-interred by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Moving along the north wall near a window you will see a set of stone steps which are matched, by a similar set on the opposite side of the church. These were the supports for wooden stairs, which at one time led to a second floor. There were several chapels up there until the Reformation, and the upper row of six windows provided the light for them.
Moving further along the north wall you will see the Grant of Arms and the much worn monument of William Billing, merchant of the staple at Calais. He died in 1533.
The Lady Chapel has two stained-glass windows (1928 and 1936) and were designed by the artist A.J. Davies. One shows the Virgin Mary with Hannah and St George and the other Christ and the Children.
A brass fixed to the wall depicts the upper part of a bearded man of Edward Ill's reign.
Moving along to the chancel you will come to the screen, heavily restored but containing some 15th century workmanship. The brackets on top would have held the pre-reformation rood figures. The chancel is narrow compared with the main body of the church and the floor has been raised, so that the 13 century piscina on the right appears unusually low in the wall.
The stained-glass east window was made in 1888 by C.E. Kempe, one of the best known artists in that medium of his day.
The choir stalls date from 1865 and the organ was built in 1912 by J.J. Binns of Leeds. Its casing was designed by Hare and made by Franklin's of Deddington.
In the sanctuary you will see three 13th century sedilia with carved capitals.
Turning back, you will face the main body of the church, large and spacious with wide aisles, columns and arches. Even so, the church was not large enough for the congregation in the early 19th century when a vicar called Richard Greaves filled the church to overflowing.
A gallery was put up at the west end to seat more people and one of the worshippers at that time was the Oxford student John Henry Newman, later Cardinal Newman.
The pulpit and the lectern were made at the turn of the century by the Franklin family of Deddington.
The kneeling desk has some interesting carvings on one side including a cat and the Green Man.
On the east end of the south wall is St Thomas's Chapel and beneath is a vaulted charnel house.
The altar was given by Dr. Maurice Frost who was Vicar of Deddington from 1924 until 1961 and in May 2010 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of his work, “the historical companion to Hymns ancient and modern” by hosting choirs from the Church of the Resurrection, Mafikeng, South Africa, the Sofiakyrkan/Dalvik Kyrka Choir from Sweden and the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle to celebrate the life and specifically the hymnological work of the Revd. Frost.
Coming back to the south wall you will see an effigy believed to be of a local judge Ralph de Beriford who owned land in Barford St. John in the 14th Century. On the same wall on the other side of the porch is the splendid family memorial of the Harris family, which has three hedgehogs on the crest. Mr. Harris was a Deddington butcher who became famous for his pork sausages and pies.
You are now back at the south porch. On each side of the entrance are what little remains of the first 13th century walls.
Those of you who are interested in needlework might want to see the new Mothers' Union banner which was designed by Amanda Gray and worked by the Deddington Craft Group. It was dedicated in 1992. The craft group also created the St. Peter and St. Paul banner which hangs in St. Thomas’s Chapel. It was finished in 2006 and bares the initials of Stella Marmion, Delphine Sampson and Winifred Holt.
Please also look at the beautiful altar frontal made with gold and silver leather. It depicts the keys associated with St. Peter and the sword of St. Paul and was donated in 1991 by Mrs. Sheila Reece.
Feel free to look around the church. There is a prayer station in the Lady Chapel and you are welcome to join us for all of our services.
There is also a visitor’s book on the desk near the door and we would welcome your thoughts.
We hope you enjoy your time in Deddington.
Thank you.