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HOME PAGE FOR COMBINED PARISH OF CHINNOR, SYDENHAM, ASTON ROWANT AND CROWELL
For the up to date detailed information on the parish WEBSITE for Chinnor, Sydenham, Aston Rowant & Crowell churches:
Brief details on the churches are listed here:
This web site does not follow the usual rules of web page design, but is a simple document providing basic information describing the four churches and the facilities provided by the churches in the Combined Parish. It consists of the following sections
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SECTION 1 -Services
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Monthly Services
Every Sunday 8.00am Said Communion
1st , 3rd &4th Sunday’s 10.00am Parish Eucharist
2nd Sunday 10.00am Family Service
6.00pm Evening Service
4th Sunday 10.00am Holy Communion
6.00pm Evening Service
5th Sunday (If applicable) See Noticeboard United Churches Service
Mondays 9.50am Intercessions
Tuesday - Saturday 8.00am Morning Prayer
(rotates between churches on Friday – see noticeboard)
Wednesday 11.00.am Said Communion
Thursday (Term Time) 11.00am Toddler Church
1st, 3rd and 4th Sunday (Term Time) 9.50am Sunday Club (Sunday School in Church Hall)
For seasonal service please pick up a newsletter from the back of any of the United Parish Churches.
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SECTION 2 - A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OUR CHURCHES
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THE RECTORY
The Rectory is situated in the High Street Chinnor in the heart of the village, adjacent to the Village Centre.
ST ANDREW'S CHURCH , CHINNOR (OX39 4PG)
Church Services..The congregation at the main 10.00am Sunday services usually numbers between 60 and 70. At festivals and combined services attendances can rise to 170. An All Souls Day afternoon service has provided solace for relatives and friends of the recently departed across the United Parish. This has been sincerely appreciated and fills a special need.
These services are shared between the clergy on the Ministry Team. The annual Confirmation Service tends to involve three adults and three young people.
During a year, there are approximately 25 Baptisms, 10 Marriages, 20 Funerals and 20 Crematoria Services.
Church Choir. There has been a steady choral tradition at St. Andrew's, with an active RSCM affiliated choir membership. Services in the United Parish are covered at present by a small team of organists co-ordinated from St Andrew’s. Choral services or concerts have been a feature of the church calendar; St Andrew’s is used frequently by local musicians including Chinnor Silver Band. The previous Rector’s wife established a “Treble Choir” and this continues.
The Church Building St. Andrew's is a fine 14th century church, built mainly from local flint. It is one of the larger village churches in the Oxford Diocese and can seat 200 at a pinch. The regular annual fund raising for the church is in the form of spring and autumn fairs and a Gift Day.
Church Bells There is a Bell Tower, with six bells, in regular use by an active team of ringers. An interchange of ringers across the United Parish and from elsewhere is welcomed and encouraged. Bells are rung prior to Sunday services, at weddings and on other special occasions.
The Churchyard remains open for burials and is well cared for by families in the community and church members at monthly work parties. There is regular grass cutting of the larger areas.
ST MARY'S CHURCH, SYDENHAM (OX39 4ND)
Sydenham is a small village with St Mary’s Church, the Village Green, the Crown Pub and the Village Hall the dominant features at its centre.
There are fewer than 150 properties, a couple of good pubs but no school, no shops and no bus route through the village.
In 2013 it had a population of about 265 adults and about 63 children, with 20 of them aged under 5 years of age.
Congregation numbers are generally small, but larger congregations feature at Christmas, Easter and Harvest.
During the 2013 Calendar Year we had 3 weddings, 3 baptisms and 1 funeral.
St Mary's Church Building
St Mary’s church is a picturesque centrepiece of the Village and both the church and the churchyard, which is still open for burials, are well cared for. On Shrove Tuesday pancake races are held for children and we hold a Christmas Market over a late November Saturday lunchtime, both raising money to boost the Church coffers.
The Church is highly valued by residents and considered to be the heart of the village. This is demonstrated by the willingness of villagers to raise funds whenever needed and in a recent one off house to house appeal to help pay our Parish Share brought in a marvellous £4k.
The Old School Room
Next to the church, on Church land, a school built in 1849 and known as The Old Schoolroom, having been upgraded and refurbished, serves as a well-used Village Hall for many of our local social events. The Old School Room is leased to Trustees with the churchwardens on the committee.
THE CHURCH OF ST PETER & ST PAUL, ASTON ROWANT
This church has traditionally served the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount. Aston Rowant was once a rural village but now, sited near the J5 junction of the M40, it is a fairly well-to-do mix of young families, commuters and retired people. ‘Aston, Kingston and Crowell Parish Notes’, a magazine produced six times a year, gives details of all activities in the villages and Parish Council Notes.
Kingston Blount forms part of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Aston Rowant. The village is more compact than Aston Rowant with a higher density of population and is more socially mixed. The Village Hall built in the 1970s and adjacent playing fields are well used.
St Peter and St Paul's Church Building (OX49 5SR)
The original church probably dates from the eleventh century and has undergone reconstruction and improvement during the intervening centuries. A major interior and exterior restoration programme took place between 2001 and 2003.
.The organ, built by Atterton of Leighton Buzzard and installed in 1873, was restored in 2002. An annexe containing a kitchenette and disabled toilet with access from the North door of the building was completed in 2012.
A sound system has been installed, and new chairs and furnishings have been provided in the North aisle.
St Peter & St Paul serves both villages and is always open during the day. At Christmas, Easter and other festivals, attendance usually exceeds 80, and during the year we have Countryside and Rogation Services and a Pet Service. There is a group of bell ringers. To quote from our well-researched guidebook, ‘the church in its present state retains a peculiar serenity in its simple beauty, clear architectural lines and lack of fussy decoration.
In an average year, there are: 3 baptisms, 2 weddings and 3 funerals.
THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, CROWELL (OX39 4RP)
The ancient parish of Crowell lies across the B4009 between Chinnor and Kingston Blount and is predominately agricultural. On one side of the B4009 are buildings clustered round the Church, the public house, with restaurant facilities, the former rectory and the local funeral parlour, together with a ribbon of older cottages and some modern infilling.
Just as Crowell village is the smallest community in the United Parish so too is the Church small – and also the least well attended. Members of what used to be a good congregation have died or moved away from the area without being replaced.
Attendances have fallen away and the Electoral Roll has shrunk correspondingly. The response of successive incumbents and of the Churchwardens at Crowell has been to introduce considerable flexibility into the pattern of worship.
When a Thinking Day was held in the United Parish in October 2003, the consensus view was that Crowell church might in time be given a changed role, offering special services and providing a venue for meetings, lectures, concerts, poetry readings and the like.
Outcomes of this thinking include: a Sung Eucharist (normally Byrd Three-Part Mass) at 11am on the second Sunday of each month, and “Soul Space”, half an hour of quiet reflection on the first and third
Saturdays of each month. There have been Lent Meditations and special occasions featuring readings and presentations.
In an average year, there are: 2 baptisms, 1 wedding and 2 funerals.
Despite the survival of some pre-Reformation features, the present building is a plain Victorian rebuild of 1878-80 in flint and stone evidently intended to seat a congregation of about 60. There is a small organ in working order and a relatively new oil-fired heating boiler. The fabric of the church is generally sound.
The Churchwardens acquired glebe land adjacent to the church in 2005 for creating a car park for the use of worshippers, visitors and the village. This project was completed in 2010. They hope to add facilities to support basic needs.
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SECTION 3 - REQUESTS FOR BAPTISMS
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Unless there are exceptional circumstances, baptisms are conducted on Sundays. They take place either during the 10.00am service with the congregation present, or at 12noon privately.
If you wish to arrange a baptism at any of the four churches please email [email protected] or telephone the Rector, Rev'd Dr Jacky Barr 01844352027 Email: [email protected]
It may not be possible to confirm a booking at the time of the call, as this will depend on the availability of the church requested, and of the clergy.
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<span style="font-size: 1rem;"> SECTION 4 - BOOKING WEDDINGS</span>
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A couple entitled to marry in one of the four parishes of the Combined Parish are equally entitled to marry in any of the other churches of the group - in Chinnor, Sydenham, Aston Rowant or Crowell. Chinnor has the more comprehensive facilities in terms of seating capacity, car parking, bells, organ, choir and flower arranging, but couples may alternatively prefer the charm and warmth of one of the smaller churches.
It is necessary to BOOK EARLY. If you are flexible in the date for your wedding, there will always be many dates from which to choose, but if you are set on a particular date then book at least ONE YEAR in advance, and to be on the safe side, make it 18 months, and to be certain, two years. Most people choose to marry on a Saturday, but about 10% choose a Friday.
Invariably there are dates that many people want. The main demand is on St Andrew's Church, Chinnor, and it may be necessary to arrange two weddings on the same day, separated by two and a half hours. If you decide to use one of the smaller churches, the smaller populations of those parishes make it almost certain that you will get the date you want.
If you wish to arrange a wedding, contact St Andrew's church office by email [email protected] or telephone the Rector Rev'd Dr Jacky Barr 01844 352027 Email; [email protected]
It will not be possible to confirm a booking at the time of the call, as this will depend on the availability of the church requested, and of the clergy.
St Andrew's church
Church Road,
Chinnor
Oxfordshire
OX39 4PG
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