Get to know: St Katherine’s Church, Chiselhampton

On the second Monday of each month, we welcome members of CCT to an exclusive lecture. Each lecture starts with a brief exploration of the historical and architectural highlights of one of the churches in our care. In April 2025's lecture we travelled to St Katherine's Church in Chiselhampton, Oxfordshire, which introduced Dr Chris Wingfield's fascinating lecture "St Olave Hart Street: A Church of Battles, Fires, and Restoration.".

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The story of this church is rooted in resilience and reinvention.

The original medieval church here was dedicated to St Mary and dated back to at least 1146. It was a chapel of Dorchester Abbey, so quite an important connection, but by the 18th century, it had fallen into ruin. One account even says the parishioners couldn’t worship there “without manifest hazard to their lives”; not the kind of Sunday service you want!

So, Charles Peers, the then Lord of the Manor, petitioned to tear it down and reuse the stone to build a new church, just 200 yards west. This new church was consecrated in 1763 and dedicated to St Katherine, which was quite likely in honour of Peers’ wife, Katherine.

While the architect isn’t known for certain, the design is probably by Samuel Dowbiggin, who was also working on Peers’ nearby manor house at the time. What he left us with is one of Oxfordshire’s most complete and untouched Georgian churches.

Chiselhampton is a small village, shaped by its position on the River Thame; not the Thames, but one of its tributaries. It was an important river crossing, and the manor is mentioned before the Domesday Book.

The Doyley family owned the land in the 16th century, and they were prominent figures in Oxfordshire society. Two member of the family even served as High Sheriffs, but like so many landed families, they fell into debt and sold the estate in 1748 to Charles Peers.

Peers wasn’t old gentry. His family were prosperous London tradesmen; grocers and hosiers. His father rose all the way to Lord Mayor of London. So this move to Oxfordshire was perhaps a quiet retirement. He built a new manor house beside the river and, of course, this beautiful church.

At first glance, St Katherine’s might look more like a refined country stable block than a church, which is part of its charm.

It’s a plain, stuccoed rectangle, with classical elegance. The bell turret at the west end is quite an eccentric feature, topped with a golden weathervane pierced with the words "St Katherine". Below that are clock faces on three sides, painted sky-blue and gilded by none other than the artist John Piper in the 1950s.  The date "1762" is proudly displayed on the west wall, marking the turret’s construction a year before the church was officially opened.

Around the building, stone urns garlanded with carved flowers stand at the corners like little flourishes of Georgian theatre. There are large round-headed windows on the south side, but none at all on the north, adding to its sense of privacy and simplicity.

Step inside, and it’s like entering a time capsule.

You come first under the west gallery, raised on classical Tuscan columns. These galleries were common in Georgian churches, often where musicians sat or the “less favoured” congregants!

The box pews are tall, likely assigned to specific families; some with little doors, some with elegant panelling. There is no central aisle, just a passageway leading to a grander squire’s pew on one side.

At the front is the simple and dignified altar. It has a marble mensa and a carved three-panelled reredos featuring the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed. All the furnishings are coherent to the 18th-century style, which makes it so rare.

There are a few older survivals too: most notably, a glorious Jacobean pulpit with wood panelling, likely salvaged from the medieval church. The reading desk and clerk’s seat below are pure Georgian.

Even the font is lovely, with white marble on a wooden stand. The only stained glass is a small modern panel with the Peers family arms. St Katherine's still has candle brackets and chandeliers, giving it an enchanting golden glow on darker days.

St Katherine’s became especially beloved in the 20th century, thanks in no small part to John Betjeman. When the roof needed repair in 1952, Betjeman helped launch the appeal with a poem celebrating its “noble altarpiece, with carven swags array’d.” He adored the building’s simplicity and time-stilled beauty.

Later, the interior was redecorated under the advice of architect Oswald Brakspear, and John Piper returned to paint the distinctive clock faces. The church’s electric lighting is discreet; mostly it’s still lit by candles.

You’ll also find a remarkable silver-gilt communion service inside, with a pair of chalices, flagons, and a salver, all engraved with the Peers family crest. One was a gift from the French Church in London, and the other from the Dutch Church, to Sir Charles Peers in 1716. These were donated to St Katherine’s by his descendants in 1767.

Sadly, the church was declared redundant in 1977 due to the declining population, but it found a new future with the Churches Conservation Trust. 

In the Summer of 2024, CCT released a podcast series, titled, Nights in the Nave. In episode 2, CCT and Professor Sasha Handley, visited Whalley Abbey, reflecting on how its destruction symbolized the loss of Catholic traditions. St Leonard’s, built from these stones, became a beacon of hope for the community. Later, at The Black Bull pub, we heard a ghost story, a reminder of how superstition and the supernatural still shape this area’s narrative.

We also discussed Tudor sleep practices, informed by Professor Handley’s research. Tudor sleep was impacted by food, and light and sleeping arrangements. Cooling foods like apples or lettuce were thought to promote rest, moonlight was avoided for fear of nightmares, and scents like lavender calmed the mind. These insights connect to the ways women, like those accused at Pendle, were tied to rituals, traditions, and belief systems that defined their lives.

Listen to the whole series of Nights in the Nave for FREE on CCTdigital.com.