Church Heritage Record 627231

Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon, rebuilt All Saints Church in 1811-12. The architect was Thomas Cundy, (1765-1825). The new church used much reclaimed material, and added a north porch built from the remains of the old south porch, and a tower. Two small windows in the chancel and a larger one in the tower came from the old church. Two, perhaps three, 14th century windows from Cumnor Hall, demolished by the Earl, are now on the south side of the church. They have been cut down to fit; but the outside two still have their hood-moulds. The east window is also from Cumnor Hall. It was very large, and was cut down for use at Wytham, but retains part of its moulded central mullion. The Earl also reused two fine early 16th doorframes - one on the west side of the tower and the other forming the arch of the churchyard gate.

Six corbels carved with heads support the roof, but are not a set. On the south of the nave are a woman with a close-fitting wimple, perhaps a nun, and a hatless man with short curling hair and forked beard. On the north are a king with forked beard and a crown, and a man playing bagpipes; these have five-sided tops. They possibly came from Cumnor and date to the second half of the 14th C. The two corbels in the chancel were probably made for the church. On the south is a young man with a laurel wreath on his head. On the north is a man wearing what looks like a mitre. They may be the Earl of Abingdon and John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury 1807 - 1825, in whose diocese Wytham then lay. The hammerbeams of the roof above the corbels were decorated with painted shields. The church has a gothic-style Caen stone font, and was fitted with pews, pulpit, and a gallery. The pulpit, font, (relocated from the centre of the aisle in 2004, to make more room for christenings), and gallery remain, but new pews were installed in the mid 19th C. The altar rails from the old church were extended and reused. The altar table (1626), church chest (1637) and poor box remain, as does a pall to cover the coffin at funerals (1635), now very fragile. The organ was by the Positive Organ Company, about 1895. The clock was made by Taylor of Oxford in 1857. A peal of ten bells was fitted in 1951 in memory of Raymond and Hazel ffennel. The shield on the front of the gallery commemorates the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The stained glass in the windows came from many sources, and is unusual in such a small church. It includes 14th C pale stain, 17th C enamelwork, 18th C painted pictures, and intricately leaded stained glass, added after the 1812 rebuild. The windows on the nave north side contain five roundels of white glass with yellow stain, probably from the original church. Two - the king and queen - are known to have been there. Four appear to date to the end of the 14th C; they may be by Thomas Glazier of Oxford. In the top of the larger window is a man sheep-shearing, perhaps from a set of ‘Labours of the Months’. Beneath are heads of a king and queen. These are not roundels, but heads of royal saints encircled with halos. Below them, in the main window, is glass by R.Anning Bell, given by Hope ffennell about 1935 in memory of her parents. A roundel with a figure of Our Lady at the Annunciation sits in the smaller window. Beneath is a later roundel, possibly of 1480, showing the eagle of St. John, presumably from a set of the signs of the four evangelists. The main glass in the east window shows the Adoration of the Shepherds, and is in the style of Joshua Price (d.c. 1722). 

The first window on the chancel south side contains mainly 16th C small roundels and squares of foreign glass. The crowns at the top of this and the next window, and the two diamond panes, containing a portrait of Edward VI and his coat of arms, came from Wytham Abbey. Beneath the diamond panes are some larger pieces of armorial glass. The early 16th C coat of arms belongs to the Dormer family. The crest below is of the Willoughby family, and was inherited by the Earls of Abingdon. The other piece of armorial glass, the shield at the top of the east window, displays the connections of the Bertie family about 1630, before they came to Wytham. On the nave south side, the easternmost window contains 19th C style stained glass, showing Christ and Mary Magdalene in the garden. This was installed in 1912 by subscription from the villagers to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the rebuilding of the church.