Easington is a small village in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Cuxham with Easington
Cuxham with Easington is a civil parish in South Oxfordshire. It includes the villages of Cuxham
Cuxham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cuxham with Easington, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of O ...
, in the
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...
district, in the county of
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
, England. It is about north of
Wallingford and about south of
Thame
Thame is a market town and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the ...
. In 1931 the parish had a population of 20. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with
Cuxham
Cuxham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cuxham with Easington, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about north of Wallingford and about south of Thame. In 1931 the parish ...
to form "Cuxham with Easington".
Parish church
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
of
Saint Peter
Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
was built in the 14th century. It consists of a continuous
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
with no chancel arch between them. The chancel masonry is
ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
, noticeably better-dressed and more evenly coursed than that of the nave. The church building includes a 12th-century
Norman doorway re-used from an earlier church on the same site. The
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
is tub-shaped, suggesting that it too is Norman. The chancel windows are
Perpendicular Gothic
Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
. The east window has
ogee
An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...
tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...
and includes 14th century
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
. The
piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...
also is ogeed. Beside the east window on the east wall are the remains of a medieval
wall painting
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
. The woodwork of the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
and reading desk are
Jacobean items carved in the 17th century. The pulpit bears the date 1633 but Sherwood and
Pevsner suggest that it was assembled in the 19th century from Jacobean materials. St. Peter's is a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
Gallery
Image:Easington StPeter porch.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: porch with Norman doorway
Image:Easington StPeter EastWindow.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: east window of chancel
Image:Easington StPeter piscina.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: piscina
Image:Easington StPeter WallPainting.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: remains of wall painting in chancel
Image:Easington StPeter pulpit.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: Jacobean pulpit
Image:Easington StPeter ReadingDesk.JPG, St. Peter's parish church: Jacobean reading desk
References
Sources
*
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Oxfordshire
Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire District