Church of St Mary North Aston, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

SP42NE NORTH ASTON 5/270 Church of St. Mary 08/12/55

GV II* Church. C14 and C15; restored and enlarged c.1866 by Sir G.G. Scott. Limestone rubble with marlstone- and limestone-ashlar dressings; lead and concrete plain-tile roofs. Chancel, south-east chapel, north-east vestry, nave, north and south aisles, south porch and west tower. Chancel retains a 2-light traceried C14 window to south but the corresponding window to north is C19 as is the rebuilt east wall and 3-light window. South chapel, extending the aisle eastwards, has two 3-light early-C14 windows with cusped intersecting tracery, but its 3-light east window has a casement moulding and Perpendicular tracery. The plain ashlar parapet is probably also C15 and is continued on the aisle at a lower level. 2-light window to right of porch, lancet to left, and the south door with continuous mouldings and head stops are C14. Porch is probably mostly C19 and has an entrance arch of 2 chamfered orders. North aisle has similar windows plus a simple chamfered arched door. Steep-roofed C19 vestry, to east, has two 2-light windows, possibly incorporating some medieval work, and the 3-light east window is C15 and similar to that on the south chapel. C15/C16 clerestory has 2-light square-headed windows. Slender late-C15 tower, with a crenellated parapet and crocketed pinnacles, is in 3 stages above a high moulded plinth and has diminutive diagonal buttresses; the top stage has transomed 2-light traceried openings and on the south is a niche containing a seated figure above a shield. The 3-light Perpendicular-style west window is probably C19. Interior: chancel has a small C14 piscina, and has 2-bay arcades to north and south, the latter incorporating a C15 arch, the remainder C19 as is the chancel arch. 2-bay nave arcades of 2 chamfered orders with octagonal columns and moulded capitals are C14, but the tall tower arch, breaking forward into the nave, is C15. Arch leading to south chapel from aisle is contemporary with the arcade, and the chapel has a C14 piscina. Chapel roof, with moulded cambered tiebeams and purlins is C15; other roofs are C19, the nave with traceried trusses, and with cusped bracing rising from elaborate wall posts and also supporting the ridge beam. Elaborate oak fittings are all C19 and include return choir stalls, a traceried rood screen, and bench pews with blind-traceried ends. Circular panelled font is probably C17 but may be earlier. Fine C15 alabaster monument in south chapel has 2 recumbent figures on a panelled chest carved with monks holding staves and rosaries. C19 stained glass in chancel windows; fragments of C15 glass in tracery lights of chapel. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: p718; VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol XI, pp18-19)

Listing NGR: SP4805028894