The rebuild of 1811-12

During alterations to his Wytham estate, Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon, rebuilt the church in 1811-12. The church register records that the previous church was ‘so ruinous as to be dangerous .......... to assemble for divine worship’. The architect was Thomas Cundy, (1765-1825). In 1821, The Gentleman's Magazine paid tribute to the careful use of old stonework, especially window tracery and door-cases. The new church added a north porch, built from materials reclaimed from the old south porch, and a tower. Two small windows in the chancel, and a larger one in the tower west wall, came from the old church. The Earl owned Cumnor Hall, built by Abingdon Abbey in the time of Edward III, and by this time a ruin. He pulled it down in 1810. Two, perhaps three, fourteenth century windows from the monks’ hall are now on the south side of the church. They have been cut down to fit their new position; but the outside two still have their hood-moulds (now much weathered). The east window was also from Cumnor Hall. It was very large, and had to be cut down for use at Wytham, but retains part of its moulded central mullion. The Earl also re-used the small doorway leading into the churchyard from the Abbey garden and two fine early sixteenth century doorframes from the time of the last abbots of Abingdon. One is on the west side of the tower and only visible from the garden of Wytham Abbey. Another forms the arch of the churchyard gate. On the outside of this gate is part of an inscription from 1572, ‘JANUA VITAE VERBUM DOMINI’. Inside are two stones ‘HN-MN’ (for Henry Norris and Margery Norris) and ‘ANO 1571’ (now missing). These might have come from either Wytham or Rycote, where the Norrises lived. The church has a Caen stone font in gothic style, and was fitted out with pews, pulpit, and a west gallery. The font, pulpit and gallery remain, but new pews were put in towards the end of the nineteenth century. The altar rails from the old church were extended to fit the wider chancel by the addition of two plain panels matching the pulpit.