Black Bourton had its own church by the mid 12th century, apparently jointly established by the lords of two Black Bourton manors. From the 13th century it was an independent vicarage, though the former minster church at Bampton retained burial rights until the 1580s. The benefice’s relative poverty ensured that the church was served usually by obscure resident vicars; many seem to have been conscientious, though there were periods of relative neglect particularly in the 16th and 18th centuries, reversed in the 19th by the dynamic attentions of the long-serving vicar James Lupton. Some of the Hungerford family, resident lords of Bourton Winslow and Bourton Inge manors, were Roman Catholic recusants in the late 16th and 18th centuries, but seem to have had little influence, and Protestant Nonconformity, too, remained minimal until the early 19th century, when a Primitive Methodist chapel was established despite opposition from the vicar. The chapel continued until the later 20th century.
The church of St Mary the Virgin is of coursed limestone rubble with stone-slated and leaded roofs, and comprises chancel, clerestoreyed nave with north aisle, north chapel and south porch, and western tower. The chancel south door, with shafted jambs and a semi-circular tympanum, is of the early or mid 12th century. The nave and north aisle, with an arcade of circular piers and pointed arches, are of the late 12th century, built perhaps after Osney abbey obtained the patronage around 1180: part of a late 12th-century string course survives on the nave’s external south wall. The plain tub-shaped font, on a square base, was supplied about the same time.
In the 13th century the church was greatly altered. The east bay of the north aisle was extended north to form a small chapel, later called the Hungerford aisle, and the east arcade arch was rebuilt as an entrance. Windows in the north aisle and nave were replaced with cusped lancets, and the south porch was added. The chancel was remodelled with a new chancel arch and lancet windows; the arrangement of two east lancets with a rectangular window above is unusual, but pre-dates 19th-century alterations.
In the 15th century some of the chancel windows were altered, and a stone pulpit with blind tracery was provided. The square three-stage tower, with embattled parapet, was built into the south-west corner of the nave in the late 15th or early 16th century, partially blocking a tall central lancet in the west wall, and then or later the westernmost arch of the north arcade was reconstructed. A clerestory lit only by three rectangular windows at the nave’s east end was added in the early 16th century.
By the 1840s the church was in a dangerous state with bowing and cracked walls, insecure foundations, and roofs threatening collapse: around 1845 the bishop alleged that it was the worst in his diocese. The nave was reroofed in 1847 with an open timber structure resting on restored corbels, but lack of funds prevented further work until 1866, when the architect E. G. Bruton carried out a complete restoration paid for by the chief landowners and parish rates; unsatisfactory work necessitated further expense in 1870. The chancel was reroofed and its walls repaired, the north aisle was rebuilt incorporating the 14th-century doorway, and the south door, with its original ironwork, was reportedly moved to the tower entrance, having presumably been recut. The interior was entirely refurbished, heating was installed, and the westernmost bay of the north aisle was partitioned to form a vestry.
In 1931 the Hungerford chapel was fitted up by members of the Akers family for daily services, and electric lighting was introduced to the church in 1934. An 18th-century chamber organ was given in 1965, and about the same time new heating was installed as part of a more general restoration.
A remarkable late 13th-century scheme of wall paintings in the nave was uncovered during the 1866 restoration, but against the vicar’s wishes was then painted over. The paintings were partially visible c. 1915, and were fully restored by E. W. Tristram in 1932; further restorations were carried out in 1965 and in the 1980s. The paintings include, on the north wall, a Tree of Jesse, the baptism of Christ, the stoning of St Stephen, and possibly the vesting and martyrdom of St Thomas Becket, with, in roundels, Saints Peter and Paul (below left) and the Coronation of the Virgin (below centre). On the south wall (below right) is St Richard Wich of Chichester (canonized 1262), with, below, the Adoration of the Magi (above), the Angel appearing to St Joseph, and the Massacre of the Innocents, all with foliage borders.
Only recently rediscovered is the burial place of Sir Arthur Hopton (left) circa 1588 to 1649, in the most prestigious part of the church behind the altar. A contemporary of Anthony Hungerford, Sir Arthur was an English diplomat, who spent most of his career in Madrid, where he was Resident Agent from 1630 to 1636, and then Ambassador for Charles I from 1638 to 1645.
We are still researching the incumbents of St Mary’s. So far we’ve identified those from 1579-1834 in this PDF: St Mary The Virgin Black Bourton Incumbents. St Mary’s affiliation to Christ Church, Oxford is clear. More recent incumbents to follow!
A new addition to our research is a piece written in 1975 by the local historian Ernest Pocock and donated by his daughter Rosemary: Black Bourton History Through St Mary’s Registers. The Parish registers reveal in graphic detail “the harsh facts of brief life and all-too-familiar death” from the 16th Century onward in our village. Ernest Pocock died in 1983. As a resident of neighbouring Clanfield he knew Black Bourton well.
St Mary the Virgin is a Grade I listed building (List UID: 1367683) as listed in the National Heritage List for England. In 2022 it joined the Benefice of Brize Norton with Carterton.
See also Our Benefice and Village history.
Extracts republished from British History Online