Historic Churches: Marston on the Mud (Oxford Mail date unknown)
OLD Marston, on the fringe of Oxford—it is the last parish which the Cherwell skirts on its eastern bank before reaching the City — is still a village, and an attractive one at that.
A tide of red brick and concrete presses round it like the enveloping flanks- of a besieging army, threatens to engulf it, and pins it against the undulating ribbon of the Northern By-Pass, beyond which are the unspoilt woody hills and meadows of a charming countryside.
But in spite of modern encroachment and the building of the by-pass, it is still a quiet place, with a winding main street, old, inns, thatched cottages, and above all that which is its chief glory, the ancient church of St. Nicholas, in its pleasantly secluded corner, with a delightful little tavern tucked away even more remotely at the end of a lane behind the graveyard.
Marston is first heard of in the 12th century. but there is no doubt of its Anglo-Saxon origin, for its name means "Marsh Town," and that it most certainly was.
Under water
Indeed for hundreds of years it must have been an island in the middle of acres of marshland through which the river meandered, with some of the land across the boundary into Elsfield under water nearly all the year round.
And less than 50 years ago a local wag could write this jingle:
0 who would live at Marston, at Marston, on the mud,
Surrounded by the water,
like Noah in the flood;
For those who live at Marston have water in their veins,
Water in their beer jugs,
water in their brains.
Only one family of outstanding note ever made the village their home— the Crokes
— whose connection began with a rising young lawyer, Unton Croke, in the reign of
James I, whose wife, Anne Hore, brought him a good deal of land and property there
which became the Manor and he Marston's leading inhabitant.
He was also committed to the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War, and his home became their headquarters when the siege of Oxford started in 1645, with both Cromwell and Fairfax there. and it was in the same house that the surrender of the city was negotiated the following year.
After those momentous events the village relapsed into its former placidity, and by 1801 the leading resident was Mine Host of the White Hart, whose hospitable doors are still open, combining with the licensed trade, those of farmer and baker.
But Marston has one more claim to fame. About 150 years ago the sporting parson, Jack Russell, stopped in the village on his way to Elsfield and bought what he considered to be "the perfect fox terrier," a little bitch, "Trump," from which comes the best of the famous Jack Russell breed. This event has been suitably commemorated only comparatively recently in the name of a new public house.
Despite all its shortcomings Marston has much to be thankful for. Headington, to which it was united by a Papal Bull for nearly 200 years, is now merely a suburb of Oxford, and so now is that part of it which was taken away to form, New Marston when the city extended its boundaries in 1929.
And St. Nicholas is still essentially a village church; the centre of a real and friendly community.
Churchyard
It stands in a trim churchyard, the graves shaded by ancient yews, near a corner which is still known as "The Cross," which recalls the days when the village cross stood there.
It has been there for seven centuries; belonging first of all to the Priory of St. Frideswide, with which it was linked until the Dissolution of the monasteries when, in the fullness of time, it passed to Christ Church.
Throughout the years the church has been served by a variety of clergy including Canons of St. Frideswide's (it was during their regime that a complaint was made that a woman and two girls were living in the vicar's house), Dominican friars, priests appointed by the Crown, Fellows of Oxford colleges who rode out on Sundays to take the services, and even a vicar of neighbouring Elsfield.
These were at last succeeded by a succession of devoted pastors, among whom in recent years have been the late Rev. J. H. Mortimer, who combined a deep affection for his people with an unrivalled knowledge of railways, and the Rev. Gordon Savage, now Bishop of Southwell.
Now there is the Rev. Paul Rimmer ministering to the faithful, who came from the Church of South India seven years ago, and it is a measure of his success that one of the major problems with which he is faced is that the seating is inadequate, particularly at festivals.
And here, at the entrance, the Vicar has hung a beautifully-illuminated welcome—words of the Lady Julian of Norwich—"Our courteous Lord willeth wee should be as homely with Him as heart may think or soul desire.
"But let us beware that we take not so recklessly His homeliness as to leave courtesy."
The Plantagenet dynasty were reigning in England when the oldest parts of the building — the chancel arch, the arches of the nave arcades, on their low, round pillars and the south door—were built.
Two hundred years later the first great restoration took place, leaving the building much the same as it is today.
At the beginning of the 16th century, when it was reported that the chancel was out of repair, considerable work was carried out and there was the inevitable Victorian restoration, fortunately far less ruthless than in so many other places.
Among the changes which were carried out then was the removal of the gallery at the west end, under the tower, and when this was replaced only a few years ago as a memorial to the late Prof. Vincent Harlow, churchwarden and lay-reader, it was found that it fitted almost exactly into the recesses where the older one had been.
Handsome
When. the organ was re- moved here, the south aisle with its "squint" through which worshippers could see the priest officiating at the altar, was transformed into a chantry chapel, which it had been years before.
Its furnishings, which include the original touch of a splendid tester over the altar, show how modern craftsmanship can be most successfully blended with the old.
The main altar-table is Jacobean, like the handsome pulpit, from which successive vicars, resident and non –resident, have expounded the Scriptures for well over 300 years, and behind it, the magnificent east window, still containing a good deal of ancient glass.
In another window nearby is what the vicar describes to young visitors as “the original Beatle” – a man of the time of Henry LL playing the lute.
This is, too, Unton Croke’s resplendent memorial tablet, designed, it is said, by the brother of the man who build Chequers, now the country home of England’s Prime Ministers, and on the other side of the chancel, the more lowly brass commemorating his wife Anne.
At the east end are some interesting old tiles, bearing the arms of Archbishop Chichele, similar to some discovered in the Latin Chapel of Christ Church which was formerly St. Frideswide's Priory.
An early benefactor of church was John Chichele whom it would seem was a kinsman of the founder All Souls, for there is no record of any connection between church and college.
But the greatest treasure of all is the Marston Chalice, the oldest in the Church England still in use in this country, which was a gift from a wealthy Oxford butcher named Skydmore, and thought to have been used originally for secular purposes.
There are, too, still signs of the medieval mural paintings which at one time covered the walls, and over the chancel arch are traces of three, superimposed one on the other; it is hoped some time to be able to restore the earliest.
As always there is so much to do, the money to be raised from people who have to make a real effort to give, and there are priorities to be observed.
Splendid
Inside and out the church is in splendid condition, particularly as it is built of Headington stone, which wears so badly amidst the grime of towns.
Since the war much been done. Ten years ago the exterior was restored, so well that it belies its age, the tower was strengthened and the roof renovated cost of nearly £3,500.
Unfortunately it was found later that the gas central heating had set up a chemical reaction which affected the lead on the roof and the rain poured in.
As a result more cash to be raised to replace this and do other work which, it is hoped will stop the damage from recurring in the future.
ST. NICHOLAS at Old Marston. is the last in present series of article on historic churches Oxfordshire. We hope that they have fulfilled the hope of Sir Douglas Veale, chairman of the Oxfordshire Historic Appeal Committee in his introduction to the first article and brought home to readers how rich Oxfordshire is in churches of great beauty and interest.
Written by John Owen
Picture by J. R. V. Johnson
Article in Oxford Mail (or Times) Date unknown (possible mid 1960s)
