Oxford, Burford, Bladon, Hanborough – Day 10 of 2025 England Pilgrimage

Sunday 9/28/2025

This morning we worshipped at St. Barnabas Jericho – Oxford’s Basilica. It is an Anglo-Catholic Church in the Jericho area of Oxford. Historically this area had been low income. (Though now, with the proximity to Oxford University, the real estate prices have surely risen.)

When the church was constructed, the decision was made to put the funds towards decorating the inside rather than the outside. So the outside is rather plain. The inside is exquisite, although they ran out of funds before it was completed. The north side of the church is worshipfully beautiful, turning my heart towards God with the words written in the tile border. The south side is plain since it was unfinished.

Just sitting there before service was stirring, bringing tears trickling down my face. I didn’t take photos until after the service was over. Incense was used so the beautiful alter art is not clear due to the residual smoke.

Today is Michaelmas which is the feast day of Holy (St.) Michael and All Angels. So the homily was offered by Canon Prof Sue Gillingham. She spoke about angels referenced throughout scripture. Often they are called “Messengers” and usually look like regular people. It wasn’t until the late fourth century that Angels were depicted with wings. Her point was, we may experience Angels without realizing it because they don’t look different. It was thought provoking.

I enjoyed speaking with the priest, The Revd Lucie Spiers, after the service. It was a very special morning.

We walked to a coffee house/bakery called Gail’s to have lunch (and coffee.) I had a mozzarella wrap that had pesto and dried tomatoes. Delicious! And Mocha.

Back at the house, we had a short rest before we left again. The three of us dropped Jennie off before 3:00 for choir practice then Steve took us to Buford to visit St. John the Baptist Church. The building construction was begun in 1175. It was a curious set-up as the current congregation has rearranged the furniture to face north rather than east (where there is still an alter.)

A docent was there to answer any questions. Steve asked him about the various time periods changes and additions had been done. It was quite interesting. The docent also pointed out some details that might go unnoticed.

An addition had been made called “The Merchant’s Chapel.” I assumed that the merchants were the worker bees, a lower class that wasn’t welcome in the main area. The docent explained that it was the other way around. The merchants were the higher class folks. Since they had money, they paid to have their own chapel so that they wouldn’t have to mingle with the commoners.

There was an old Turret Clock which has been running since 1685. Steve said that there is an even older clock in the UK still running but I don’t remember where that is located.

We walked around Burford a bit. It is a charming old town. The public toilet took my 20 pence and wouldn’t open the door so we went to a coffee shop and each had ice cream. That way, I could use their facilities. Win win!

Next we went to the small parish church of St. Martin in Bladon. Winston Churchill and people from his family are buried there. It is curious that he chose to be buried here, in an out-of-the way town of under 800 people, in a churchyard of a small church, on a road that is so small that it isn’t accessible by tour busses. He could have been buried in Westminster Abbey with many other Prime Ministers.

The church has a stained glass window dedicated to Winston Churchill. We enjoyed hunting for the many items represented in the glass which were significant to him and his life.

Lastly, we returned to the small parish church in Hanborough, the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, where we had left Jennie three hours earlier. She sang in the choir at the Evensong service. The acoustics were amazing and the singing was lovely and filled the chapel.

At home, we enjoyed left-overs in addition to delicious frittatas on a tortilla (fajita frittata?) that Steve created. He is an excellent cook. We sat and talked but were all too tired, even for a cup of tea, so we were soon off to bed.

Tomorrow, Gregg and I plan to drive west for a day trip to Glastonbury Tor, Glastonbury Abbey, and nearby Wells Cathedral. It is 2.5 hours each way but is high on our “to see” list and it will be good to have most of our driving out of the way.

Once again, I’m short on time so I selected the group of photos to share and inserted them in a group. At least this time they are in chronological order through out the day.