page_title: Sparsholt, Oxfordshire
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Sparsholt, Oxfordshire / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: English: Griffin Memorial Hall (right) and adjoining cottages (centre and left), Sparsholt, Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire), seen from south-southwest
context_page_description: Sparsholt is a village and civil parish about 3 miles west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Westcot about ¹⁄₂ mile west of the village. Sparsholt was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.
context_section_description: The oldest part of the Church of England parish church of Holy Cross is the nave, which was built in the 12th century. The church has a 13th-century west tower, and 13th-century arches leading to the chancel and south transept.
  In the 14th century the chancel and transept were rebuilt and several new windows were inserted. The chancel was given a Decorated Gothic piscina and triple sedilia with ornate cusped arches. A pair of tomb recesses in a similar style was installed, one on the south side of the chancel beside the sedilia and the other on the north side. In the transept are three rare 14th-century oak effigies, two of them under canopies like those in the chancel. Some 13th- and 14th-century stained glass survives in the church.
  Late in the 15th century a vestry was added on the north side of the chancel, more windows were inserted in the nave and the nave roof was replaced. On the north wall in the nave is a large Renaissance monument with strapwork flanked by Doric columns. It commemorates John Playdell who died in 1591 and his wife Bridget who died in 1623. In the south transept is a smaller Renaissance monument with strapwork flanked by Ionic columns. It commemorates Sir George Hyde KG of Kingston Lisle who also died in 1623.
  The chancel has a 17th-century collar truss roof. The north porch is late 18th-century, as probably is the transept roof. In the 19th century a Gothic Revival traceried wooden screen was inserted in the chancel arch. The church is a grade I listed building.
  The west tower has a ring of four bells. Joseph Carter of Reading cast the treble and third bells in 1578 and the tenor bell in 1603. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast or re-cast the second bell in 1914.
  Holy Cross parish is part of the Ridgeway Benefice, along with the parishes of Childrey, Kingston Lisle, Letcombe Bassett, Letcombe Regis and West Challow.
caption: Griffin Memorial Hall (right) and adjoining cottages (centre and left)
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