page_title: Westcott Barton
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Westcott Barton / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: English: 16th-century chest tomb in St Edward the Confessor's parish churchyard, Westcot Barton or Westcott Barton, Oxfordshire
context_page_description: Westcott Barton, also spelt Wescot Barton or Wescote Barton, is a village and civil parish on the River Dorn in West Oxfordshire about 7 miles east of Chipping Norton and about 9 ¹⁄₂ miles south of Banbury. The parish is bounded to the north by Cockley Brook, a tributary of the River Dorn. A minor road to Kiddington forms part of the eastern boundary, another minor road forms part of the western boundary and the remainder of the parish boundaries are field boundaries.
  Westcott Barton's main area of housing is on the eastern boundary of the parish and contiguous with the village of Middle Barton in the neighbouring parish of Steeple Barton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 244.
context_section_description: There is archaeological evidence that by at least the 11th century there was an Anglo-Saxon stone church at Westcott Barton, which was originally dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr. In the 11th century the nave was extended westwards and in about the middle of the 12th century the south aisle was added. It has a two-bay arcade and a tomb recess, both of which are Norman. The chancel arch is in a transitional style from Norman to Early English.
  The church's dedication was changed from St Edmund to St Edward the Confessor in 1238. In the 14th and 15th centuries the chancel and north wall of the nave were rebuilt, the west tower and battlemented south porch were built and the wooden rood screen was installed, all in Perpendicular Gothic style. However, in about 1520 the chancel was reported to be in ruins.
  A west gallery was installed, presumably in the 18th century. In 1855–56 the gallery was removed and the church was restored under the direction of the Oxford Diocesan Architect G.E. Street, who also added the battlements to the nave parapet. The then Vicar, Rev. E.L. Lockyer, painted the screen and the decorated patterns on the chancel and aisle arches. The current rood cross is a 19th-century Gothic Revival addition. St. Edward's is a Grade II* listed building.
  In the churchyard just south of the church are a 15th-century tomb chest that has a quatrefoil at either end, and the base and steps of a late medieval stone cross.
  The tower has three bells, which are notable for being moved by half-wheels. The second bell was cast by John Mitchell of Wokingham in about 1490. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the tenor and treble bells in 1904. St Edward's has also a Sanctus bell that was cast by an unknown founder in about 1699.
  Between 1180 and 1189 Alexander of Barton gave the church to the Benedictine Eynsham Abbey. In 1538, in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Abbey surrendered all its property to the Crown, which in 1557 sold the advowson of Westcott Barton to a secular buyer. In 1960 the benefice was merged with that of Steeple Barton, and in 1977 this united benefice was combined with the parishes of Duns Tew and Sandford St. Martin. In March 2015 the benefice was merged with that of Over Worton and Nether Worton to form the Benefice of Westcote Barton with Steeple Barton, Duns Tew and Sandford St Martin and Over with Nether Worton, also called the Dorn and Ridge Benefice.
caption: St Edward's parish churchyard: 15th-century tomb chest
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