St Mary's Ewelme is an exceptional Church with a distinguished history. The present building has not changed greatly for almost 600 years, having been reordered in 1437. It is a rare opportunity to see a place of worship with strong echoes stretching back over 100 years before the Reformation. Many people from all over the world come to see the tomb of Alice de la Pole, Geoffrey Chaucer's grandaughter, Duchess of Suffolk and founder of the Trust, "God's House at Ewelme". The founders' prayer is still used on special occasions,

"God have mercy on the Sowles of the noble Prince King Harry the Sext and of the Sowles of my Lord William sum time Duke of Suffolk and my Lady Alice Duchess of Suffolk his wyfe our first founders and of their fadyr and modyr sowles and all Cristen sowles."

Because of the connection with the Dukes of Suffolk, the architecture, the tomb and the famous "angel" roof in the chapel of St. John the Baptist have more in common with East Anglian churches than nearer neighbours in Oxfordshire.

As the entries in our visitor's book testify, St. Mary's is a place of peace and tranquility. We welcome travelers, who come for a sense of history or those searching for a sense of peace in the face of God.

Worship is largely traditional but we have a Children's Service once a month and seek to reach out to the wider community through prayer.We are introducing a Common Worship Parish Communion from early June, which will take place once a month It is our hope and aim that we are traditional rather than traditionalist.

Like most churches we survive on people's generosity and donations and our running costs are about £700 a week. If you have visited or requested information, we would be very grateful if you took advantage of the online donation service, which can be done easily and in a tax effective manner by clicking on the "Support via Donation" button just to right of this text.

Load map in Google Maps