English Heritage sites near Oxenton Parish
BELAS KNAP LONG BARROW
5 miles from Oxenton Parish
A particularly fine example of a Neolithic long barrow of c.3800 BC, featuring a false entrance and side chambers. During excavations in the 1860s, the remains of 31 people were found in the chambers.
HAILES ABBEY
6 miles from Oxenton Parish
Founded by the Earl of Cornwall in thanks for surviving a shipwreck. It housed a renowned relic, ‘the Holy Blood of Hailes’: allegedly a phial of Christ’s blood. Great picnic spot. Audio tours.
ODDA'S CHAPEL
6 miles from Oxenton Parish
One of the most complete surviving Saxon churches in England, this chapel was built in 1056 by Earl Odda, and rediscovered in 1865 subsumed into a farmhouse. Nearby is the famous Saxon parish church.
GREAT WITCOMBE ROMAN VILLA
11 miles from Oxenton Parish
The remains of a large and luxurious villa built about AD 250, with a bathhouse complex, perhaps the shrine of a water spirit, and mosaics.
GREYFRIARS
11 miles from Oxenton Parish
Substantial remains of an early Tudor friary church of Franciscan 'grey friars' founded in 1231.
BLACKFRIARS
11 miles from Oxenton Parish
One of the most complete surviving Dominican friaries in England, later converted into a Tudor house and cloth factory. Notable features include the church and fine scissor-braced dormitory roof.
Churches in Oxenton Parish
St John the Baptist
Oxenton Church contains fascinating wall murals, some overlaid on earlier work. Specialist conservation work has revealed many glimpses but no complete pictures.
A mortuary chapel was added to the north of the building for Edward Law, who was created 1st Earl of Ellenborough following a term as Governor-General of India. He was the architect of the model of British rule in India which was instituted after the Mutiny. The chapel is completely sealed, but re-roofing works in 2005 gave a rare glimpse of its contents.
The church stands within a village surrounded by working farms, and is supported by residents from all three villages of the parish. The church hall (formerly the village school) is now administered as a community asset.
St Martin
This is a beautiful small church, originally attached to Deerhurst Priory, whose earliest records are of a restoration and partial rebuilding in 1499, with further extensive remodelling in 1873. This was instigated by the patron, the estate of the Earls of Coventry, and two family members who held the incumbency consecutively.
The tower tilts spectacularly, and was made safe by underpinning in 1975. The six bells are rung at weddings and are popular with visiting teams.
The church is popular for local weddings and has a faithful congregation from across the parish. Most come from Gotherington, the largest of the three villages but without a church building.
No churches found in Oxenton Parish