History

There’s been a church here since the 12th century, though only tiny fragments from that period remain.  Successive generations have altered and extended the building, most notably adding the 15th century tower, but what you see today is largely the work of the Victorians, who were occasionally more mischievous that we think: the masons working on the 1874 restoration lodged with a local innkeeper (who was a forebear of a recent churchwarden and a current member of the choir);  he was intemperately fond of his own product and would spend many mornings nursing a sore head.  He’s been immortalised in the gargoyle beside the porch. 
 
Inside, there are some rather more formal memorials to members of the congregation, ranging from the 16th through to the 20th century, including a general whose widow still worships every week in the church.  The Victorians put in the lovely painted reredos behind the altar, some beautiful glass and 86 pews.

Our generation’s contribution has been to take the pews out (not an uncontroversial move!) so as to open up a wonderful, flexible space that can be used for community events as well as Sunday worship.  But, of course that’s not a new idea, just a return to the medieval way of using the church as place of worship, meeting hall, marketplace.  And we haven’t only taken away:  we’ve added our own treasures, such as the statue of St Leonard, patron saint of prisoners, surrounded by barbed wire like the Amnesty International symbol.  He was made by Faith Tolkien, a Watlington sculptor of world renown;  her model, too, was a local man. 
 
And we have plans, when funds permit, to build an extension to house a kitchen and improved loos, so that the building remains fit for use by generations to come.  See the section "Renewal Project".  A living church, not just with a history but with a future, too.
 
For a detailed account of Watlington and the church, see the Victoria County History for Oxfordshire:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol8/pp210-252”