St John the Baptist, Fifield

Image of St John the Baptist, Fifield

A little bit about us

Address: St John the Baptist, Church Street, Fifield, Chippng Norton OX7 6HF

Fifield is a small civil parish of about 180 people in the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds.  It has been an ecclesiastical parish with Idbury since the 19th century with a combined population of about 240.  The Church of St John the Baptist has indications of there having been a Norman building on the site, and there are also some Early English windows. It was “modernised” in Victorian times, although a plan then to extend into a side aisle on the north side did not take place.”

 

POLICIES

Fifield and Idbury safeguarding policy 2019

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Contact numbers:

Parish Safeguarding Officer

Catherine Hitchens 01993 831881

Need to talk?

Contact Childline anytime – calls are free and confidential

Call 0800 1111

Family Lives

Free and confidential helpline for support

0800 800 2222

Family Lives offers a confidential and free helpline service (previously known as Parentline)  providing information, advice, guidance and support on any aspect of parenting and family life, including bullying. Open 9am to 9pm, Monday – Friday, 10am to 3pm Saturday and Sunday.

Our Services

Every Second Sunday of the month
11am BCP Holy Communion

See the calendar on the homepage for details of up and coming services.

 

Some of our News

From Fifield’s Flower Festival

 

 

 

Other information about St John the Baptist

The earliest record of a chapelry in Fifield appear in a deed of 1220, though there is no evidence to show whether this was part of the present church in its earliest form. If not, then the chapelry must have been replaced shortly after that date.  The church was built of a size to hold the worshippers of a comparatively small village, and today it is happily still of a size eminently suitable for its congregation.

As with many old churches it is its architecture which tells us most about is: a 13th century nave and chancel, embellished a century later with a tower, an East window and windows in the Nave, with later additions and repairs culminating in a considerable amount of internal work – a virtual rebuilding – done by the Victorians in the fashion of the time. The condition of the church had, however, deteriorated significantly by then, particularly in the 19th century when there was no parson resident in the village. So, although some of the original character of the church was no doubt lost in these Victorian renovations, they quite possibly saved it from gradual disintegration and decay.

With the exception of the lancets in the chancel and a few tracery lights in the nave, all the glass is Victorian.  The lancets date to 13th century and late 15th/early 16th century.  A project to clean, restore and conserve all the windows was completed in 2009 and the windows rededicated by the Bishop of Dorchester in 2010.   The current major project is to carry out re-plastering in the west end of the church.  When cracked plaster was stripped from the south side, the arch of a doorway was revealed.  This would have provided access to a gallery, which no longer exists.

The church community is an active one, and is supported by a “Friends” group. established in 2008.