The Diocese of Oxford Deanery of Deddington the Ironstone Benefice

The Diocese of Oxford Deanery of Deddington The Ironstone Benefice

Table of Contents

3 Foreword by the Bishop 4 The Deanery 6 Ironstone benefice 6 The Team 7 Accommodation 8 Our Vision 9 You 10 What we do Our services and other worship 11 Our pastoral work 12 The wider community 12 Music 13 Schools 13 Charitable activities 13 Eco Church 13 Finance 14 What we want to do 15 Appendix A: The Villages and their Churches 16 Alkerton and Shenington 18 Balscote 19 Drayton 20 Hanwell 21 Horley 23 Hornton 24 Wroxton

Foreword by the Bishop of Dorchester

30th September 2019

I am delighted to write a foreword to this profile for the House for Duty Post in the Ironstone Benefice and I hope and pray that you may consider applying for this important post in the Oxford Diocese. As a Diocese, we seek to be contemplative, compassionate and courageous in all that we do. Anyone taking up the post will, I hope, wish to engage with our vision as it develops, and to offer their own insights, ideas and energy as we explore what it means to be a Christ-like Church. John has been vicar of the benefice for a decade, and with Lindy as licensed lay minister they have together built a sense of community across the benefice. In recent times too they have opened up its ministry and worship to a younger generation. The benefice is now on the cusp of change. With new housing developments under construction on its eastern and southern boundaries, the benefice population will grow significantly. This provides an opportunity to build on the good work already done by colleagues throughout the benefice, and to continue to develop and extend their mission and ministry in the Ironstone area. An expanding rural multi-parish benefice like this offers a wonderful opportunity for a fulfilling ministry that makes a real difference to its community and enables more people to encounter the love of God. With new residents arriving daily, this is a fascinating time to become an important member of the team. Rightly they are particularly looking for a team player who will work across the Benefice and engage with the community in all of the villages, ministering to people from all age groups. A priest who will provide continuity to the ministry and worship, whilst at the same time being open minded, progressive and able to bring fresh ideas. I do hope having read this profile that you consider applying. With every blessing,

Statement from Deddington Deanery

Deddington Deanery is one of the larger and more diverse deaneries in the Diocese of Oxford. In all, there are twenty nine parishes, with thirty four churches (in twelve benefices). The resident population exceeds 66,000, with c.47,000 in the largest town, Banbury. Our demographic covers everything from affluent villages to areas of significant deprivation.

Chapter In our deanery, incumbent status clergy, including house for duty, are encouraged to make a priority of the regular lunches, which take place most months. This is an informal and confidential space which is greatly valued by deanery colleagues. We have built trust and strong support networks, supported by two mini breaks to Bournemouth in the last few years to worship, plan and grow together. We hope to continue these next year to support new clergy in the deanery to become valued colleagues.

In addition, there are opportunities throughout the year to bring together all licensed and retired clergy and lay ministers for discussion. Spouses are welcome at social gatherings.

Deanery Synod The Deanery Synod meets up to four times a year at different venues throughout the deanery. There has been a conscious effort to improve the hospitality and tone of these meetings so that they feel more purposeful and enjoyable. There is often a keynote speaker or a workshop to consider items of mutual interest.

The Area Dean is assisted by two Associate Area Deans who work closely with the Lay Chair and deanery treasurer. The Standing Committee is increasingly taking a strategic approach to the work of the deanery and trying to free up synod’s agenda to provide space for keynote speakers such as the diocesan Disability Advisor and Lead Chaplain amongst Deaf People.

Locally based training is provided by our Deanery Training Officer and has included training on parish websites, safeguarding, eco church and leading all-age worship. A quiet day was held last summer in a beautiful garden in the north of the deanery.

Deanery Mission & Pastoral Plan This is in the process of being revised to ensure: • we engage with the emerging priorities of the national church and the Diocese, including the Diocesan Common Vision (to become a Christ like church for the sake of the world) • we allow churches to take their own approaches to address the missional opportunities and challenges within their own unique location e.g. extensive new housing, population growth, schools, older people, developing a mixed economy of church. • we provide support and an opportunity to share good practice • we have the right ministerial deployment and resources to support all this.

We have a clear sense that we are called to be an enabling deanery – helping parishes as they seek to live out God’s mission in their places rather than dictating how mission and ministry should be approached.

There are strong links with the schools throughout the deanery. Two of the three primary schools in the Ironstone Benefice are church schools,

We are a diverse deanery and we hope that the new house for duty priest will wish to share in this ministry with us. We will work hard to provide the successful candidate with a warm welcome and supportive colleagues. Join us as we seek to work towards becoming a more Christ-like church which is more courageous, contemplative and compassionate.

Ironstone Benefice

The benefice is now 23 years old. It lies to the north west of Banbury, in delightful countryside. It is a rural benefice, yet within commuting distance of London, Oxford and the West Midlands. Consequently, the communities here are a mix of working age and retired people. The villages are small. The largest has no more than about 600 residents, but this is set to change. There are a number of new housing developments being established on the southern and eastern benefice boundaries – within the Drayton and Hanwell parishes - and these will in due course double the benefice population overall. We have eight Grade 1 or 2 listed churches, one in each of the parishes: Alkerton, Balscote, Drayton, Hanwell, Horley, Hornton, Shenington and Wroxton. With little public transport available, the successful candidate will need to have their own means of transport to get around.

Our villages are small but extremely sociable and active, with many opportunities for joining in. We have a benefice website and hope to develop this further. https://ironstonechurches.wordpress.com/ The Team Our Rector, Dr John Reader, has been with us for ten years. He leads on our work with schools, and takes the majority of our services including (for now) all Eucharist services. He is a published academic, and well-liked across the benefice. Lindy Bridgeman is our Licensed Lay Minister and is another well-liked and valuable member of the team. At present, she takes four services a month in four different churches and monthly assembly at Shenington school.

The House for Duty post will be the third and final member of the team. The team is supported by an experienced benefice administrator, safeguarding officer, able churchwardens and others.

Accommodation The house associated with this post is in Horley. Banbury train station is about ten minutes drive, and trains run regularly from there to London and the north, south and west of the country. The M40 is within easy reach. It is an attractive, detached 4 bedroomed house with well-tended gardens situated in a pleasant location in the centre of the village. As a purpose built vicarage, it has a study and sufficient space for small groups to meet. Horley is a popular and friendly village with many attractive buildings, a cricket club and ground, and a highly reputed pub, the Red Lion. There is no school, with village children generally attending Hornton or Shenington primary schools. Local senior schools are well thought of. There is a farm shop within easy distance and Banbury is close to hand as well.

Our vision The benefice is predominantly rural although this is changing. It is traditional, but not set in its ways. Our churches are beautiful, well cared for, and relatively well-maintained, with notable improvements to some in recent years. We instinctively see our churches and congregations as open, warm, welcoming and inclusive, and able to play a central role in our parishes. We are eager to see our churches as places of joy, playing a role for the wider community, for example as places of music as well as worship. We hold a number of music festivals in the benefice each year, alongside other one-off performances and events. With a popular wedding reception venue nearby, Horley is experiencing an upsurge in wedding ceremonies, and the joy and celebration that comes with them. As in other rural settings, our routine congregations generally tend to be made up of the more mature residents, but during John’s tenure, we have consolidated and increased our work with children and young people. Our team has strong, ongoing links with local schools, and Café Church is now well-established and popular. More recently, we have also acted to protect and enhance the environment, with a number of churches implementing specific projects to encourage wildlife, protect species or improve the environment more generally. We have challenges. Regular church service congregations are relatively small and sometimes struggling to reach double figures, albeit special services such as a Christmas Carol and Crib service have attracted 200 people, and school services in church can have similar numbers. We also have unprecedented opportunities. We wish to build on the foundations we have, to grow in new ways. Local housing developments abutting Banbury (within the Hanwell and Drayton parishes) are set to result in a doubling of the benefice population, and a change in the mix as well, with more families and children. The work we have done in recent years stands us in good stead, but we would like to do more. With John, Lindy and others, the new House for Duty post will be working with us to reach out to new families and all newcomers, so that they experience the warmth and joy of God’s love and the support and encouragement of the church community. We see that to get that right, we will need to change in some respects, and be ready to think afresh. Across the benefice, we welcome that.

You We are looking for a positive, approachable person to work as part of a tight-knit team, able to reach out and connect with young and old alike, across the benefice. You will join the team and minister across the benefice, including sharing in Occasional Offices. We have regular benefice-wide services, but there is more we can do together as a benefice and it will be important that you help us with that. With the expected unprecedented expansion of our benefice population, your ideas on our development and approach will be welcome. Areas of specific responsibility can be adapted to suit you and your gifts and preferences, taking into account the challenges and opportunities we have. Potential areas of responsibility include: Leading regular Sunday worship across the benefice and participating in the Café Church planning group. Taking assemblies in Shenington School and supporting their SIAMS committee. Helping to develop our Eco Church projects across the benefice. Responding to the increased pastoral challenges and opportunities presented by the new housing developments. Supporting the lay initiatives and activities which are central to the life of our churches and villages. These include creative use of our church buildings such as Shenfest and Hanfest as well as other concerts and events. We are looking for someone who is: • Experienced in collaborative ministry and team-working • Able to appreciate and support traditional forms of worship but also to embrace the wider role of the church in our community • Able and willing to think imaginatively and work creatively across the benefice • Excited by the prospect of new families and other newcomers to the benefice, and able to reach out to them • Able to contribute well to the strategic development of the benefice. • Able to respond to the growing challenge of new developments within the benefice boundaries. • Administratively competent, and comfortable with technology.

What we do Our services and other worship There is a regular pattern of services across the benefice. Details are in Appendix A, but in summary we aim each month for one Holy Communion in each of the eight churches (including one benefice-wide service). These services are supplemented with village, Mattins and Evensong services in some churches, so that we have on average about eighteen services each month. In addition, John leads a Café Church Team to plan a monthly Café Church service. The team includes Lindy, a teenager from Hornton and two young mothers from the benefice, one majoring on craft and one on music.

We also have a range of other worship and prayer opportunities for people in the benefice. Deddington Deanery has a Pilgrimage Walk, and the Ironstone Benefice Section is walked as part of our Lenten observations on Palm Sunday. The benefice also runs Lent and Advent Bible Study groups, and quiet days. Individual parishes meet regularly as small groups for study and fellowship. Some churches have prayer walk leaflets to help guide personal prayer and meditation.

Our pastoral work Lindy takes communion by extension at Glebefields care home in Drayton about every three weeks, as well as informal seasonal services at Christmas, Easter, Harvest and Remembrance and other festivals such as Mothering Sunday, sometimes with an activity as part of the service. Lindy also has a Chaplaincy role with one or two residents whom she visits individually to listen and to talk.

Safeguarding is managed at benefice level. Contact information is available in each church and on the website.

The wider community Social activities within the community are a particularly strong feature of the benefice. Individual churches have their own developed relationships with the communities they serve. In many parishes, church members work with other members of the community to organise village groups and activities, such as fetes, progressive dinners and drinks, harvest auctions and regular, well attended coffee mornings and toddler groups. Volunteers in all parishes help with the maintenance of the churches and their grounds. Music We have a strong musical heritage. Music festivals are held annually at Hanwell, Horley and Shenington. Performances are held in our churches and help to raise funds for the benefice.

Other one-off events are not uncommon. We recently enjoyed an Easter performance of Stainers’ Crucifixion, for example. Scratch choirs come together for Christmas and some other services, but there is scope to establish a more regular choir or choirs.

Schools There are three primary schools in the benefice, at Wroxton, Shenington and Hornton. Wroxton and Shenington schools are Voluntary Aided, and a major focus of our school work. We have strong relationships with all three schools. Wroxton joined the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust three years ago and is therefore part of the Diocesan MAT. Currently, John takes a weekly assembly at Wroxton school and serves on the school’s governing body. There is a Wroxton school service in the church each school term, and services for festivals as well. We take assemblies at Shenington school twice a month, and also services in church. We do not currently hold services at Hornton school, but nevertheless we have strong links to the school and within the village overall. Charitable activities Each church donates to charities of its choosing. They are wide ranging, and include Tearfund, the local hospice and other local, national and international good causes. Proceeds from the Shenington Carol Service in recent years have been shared with “Singing for Syria” and ShenFest each year also donates to the Banbury Young Homeless Project. Eco Church Last year we began work to maintain and improve the environment, with an immediate focus on our churches and grounds. Each church has taken forward its own initiatives, and no doubt we will take stock and learn from each other as things progress. St Etheldreda’s Church (Horley) has gained a Bronze Eco Church Award Certificate in recognition of efforts to care for God’s earth in each of the following areas: Worship & Teaching, Management of Land & Buildings, Community Engagement and Lifestyle. Finance In general, the financial resources of the benefice have proved adequate to cover parish share (2019 £43,136) and the high cost of insurance, repairs and maintenance for eight listed buildings. The finances are organised on an individual parish basis with income generation and expenditure controlled by each parish. Parish share due by the benefice is split to the parishes by fixed percentage. In recent years, the benefice has paid its share in full. In one or two minor cases, parishes have had a shortfall but this has been made up by support from other parishes with the benefice or in the following year. The benefice has had some rigorous discussions with the deanery over allocation methodologies for parish share and these are ongoing. Some of the parishes have good reserves while others have very little, so requiring periodic fundraising initiatives to which the village community positively responds.

What we want to do We want to maintain and increase our congregations and our worship, including both regular Sunday services and other activities. With the current House for Duty vacancy, one parish in the benefice (Wroxton) has established a lay-led service, and there is scope for more across the benefice. Equally, with a new member of the team we can consider again the pattern and types of service across the benefice as a whole. We believe there is more we can do to provide pastoral care within our area. With the new housing developments, the population will grow in two of our parishes, and we wish to tend to them as well as our more established communities. We wish to continue to reach out to families and children. We think we can do more to make our churches yet more welcoming to children, young people and families – making them feel at home, as part of the wider church family. We wish to continue to look outside our own benefice to support those in need, hence our charitable giving, but we have also had invited speakers to talk to us about Islam, Judaism and Sikhism to increase our contact with and understanding of other faiths. A recent visiting preacher gave insight on the challenges faced by the Church in China We wish to continue to maintain and enhance our beautiful church buildings. We aim to encourage more creative use of our churches both for village activities and cultural events. With four of our churches suffering roof lead theft in the last twelve months, we have more than the usual remedial work in hand.

Appendix A: The Villages and their Churches All our churches are beautiful, full of character and individual architectural interest, with each in its own rural village setting. Key metrics for each parish are:

Village Population Electoral School Pupils role Alkerton 425 18 Yes 100-110 and Shenington Balscote 180 15 No Drayton 200 12 No Hanwell 236 9 No Horley 330 16 No Hornton 300 22 Yes 95 Wroxton 546 11 Yes 91

Occasional offices are a significant feature of our ministry. Last year the benefice enjoyed 12 baptisms and 3 weddings (an unusually low number), and experienced 16 funerals. For 2020 we already have 10 weddings booked. A summary of each parish is given below.

Alkerton and Shenington There are some 170 dwellings and 425 residents on the civic electoral roll in the two villages of Alkerton and Shenington. There is a public house with a reputation for good food in Shenington. The two villages are separated by a valley and a steep road and each village has a pride in its own welfare. The nearest Post Office and shops are about three miles away in Tysoe.

There are two churches in the parish, Holy Trinity Church, Shenington and St. Michael and All Angels Church, Alkerton. There are 18 people on the church electoral roll and a further 20 supporters on the church non-electoral roll.

There is a village primary school in Shenington with 100 – 110 pupils. This is a new building completed in 2003, replacing one established in the 1870s. It is a Voluntary Aided Church of England foundation and has a reputation for a very high standard of primary education, academic, physical and also spiritual. The Rector or the Bishop’s appointee is a statutory governor of the school. There is a limited bus service to Banbury (7 miles) and Stratford upon Avon (18 miles).

There is a small village hall, converted from two cottages. The hall is used by the Parish Council for its meetings, for whist drives in aid of church funds and for other functions organised by the Village Hall Social Committee such as quizzes, bingo, wine tasting evenings and the annual Christmas tea for the over-sixties. The Parochial Church Council have used it for a Harvest Supper following the Harvest Festival Service on the second Sunday in October. Members of the parish are allowed to use the tennis courts at the school under certain conditions.

There are three family run farms within the parish but both offer very limited opportunities for employment. Many residents work in Banbury or other local towns and quite a few travel to work in London, Oxford or Birmingham. There is a small business park, a nursery school and a number of small businesses on Shenington Airfield.

Holy Trinity Church, Shenington is a beautiful early 12th century Grade II* church set close to the village green. Normal services are Evensong at 6pm on the second Sunday in the month and Common Worship Holy Communion at 9.45 am on the fourth Sunday. The organ situated between the Vestry and the Choir is believed to be by organ builder Henry Willis and dates from about 1880. Taped music is used when an organist is not available. There is no regular choir but a village choir is raised each year for the Christmas Carol Service. A member of the village sounds the Last Post and Reveille on the trumpet at Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday services. Attendance at services on normal Sundays varies from 12 to 20. At festival services it is typically some 50 to 70 with over 100 at the Carol Service.

St. Michael and all Angels Church, Alkerton is a small 12th century Grade I church - an architectural gem set in idyllic surroundings. A special feature is a recently created Lady Chapel designed for devotional worship by individuals or small groups. The normal service is BCP Holy Communion at 9 am on the first Sunday of the month. A church cleaning party meets on the day before this service and has become a focus for social life based on care of the church building. Average attendance at services is 12. There is no organ and the service on the first Sunday is a said service.

In the past year we gave some 7.5% of our income to charities at home and abroad. These included special appeals from Christian Aid, the Poppy Fund, St Luke’s Hospice and The Agricultural Benevolent Fund. Some 30 people pay regularly by banker’s order using Gift Aid. The Church Fete, held regularly in July, and supported by many members of the village is also a major source of income. Other important sources of income are village whist drives and sponsored floodlighting of Shenington Church.

There is a parish web site sheningtonalkerton.btck.co.uk showing details of the two churches with a gallery of photographs. It also maintains a record of church and village news. A “Guide to the Parishes”, prepared by a former rector and his wife and updated for the millennium, outlines features of the churches and the parish. In addition the villages publish a free magazine twice yearly “The Shenington Green" with a section on Church News - it is distributed to every household in the parish. Copies of both publications are available in both churches.

We feel our mission locally is to lead by example, to provide a broad based service pattern to provide for all tastes, to ensure that the churches in Alkerton and Shenington are always available to the village, providing a heart for the community, and to support the fabric of the churches and pass on two buildings of great beauty to future generations.

Both churches are in good order. Actions recommended in the most recent Quinquennial Inspection reports have been carried out. together with repairs to the churchyard walls at both churches. There is a dedicated team of church cleaners, flower arrangers and several people who read regularly in church. We have an open attitude to changes which could benefit the worshipping community.

Balscote

The village of Balscote consists of 80 dwellings and a population of 180. The Church electoral roll is 15 and has been at this level for several years. The village is part of the ecclesiastical and civil parish of Wroxton. The Parish Council serves both villages, however despite our ecclesiastical links to All Saints, Wroxton, the PCC of Balscote, St Mary Magdalene, operates separately within the Benefice. The village is a tight knit community and is classified by the District Council as a category C village allowing no development other than infill. We have no shops, no school and no bus service. We do however have a public house and a village hall. The latter is available to the church and benefice for free use as the church has no facilities such as toilets or meeting rooms. The church is essentially a mixture of 14th and 15th Century although there is evidence of church and church buildings pre-dating this time with a Norman font and vestry window. The church consists of a chancel, nave and south aisle. The tower has an octagonal parapet and the lowest stage serves as a porch. Inside the style is simplicity with an absence of stained glass. There are two organs, one pipe and one

18 electronic. We are fortunate to have two organists who play for our two monthly services consisting of one Eucharist and one village service. Two bells exist in the tower, one dated 1756 and the other possibly added with the clock. The clock was installed to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The church buildings are protected by a security system located on the roof and run from equipment located in the tower. This is our protection from lead theft. Attendances generally are in the order of 10 to 15 for each service although major festivals and special services such as Advent and Remembrance are highly popular and well attended. A notable feature of the church community is the absence of a church warden. This situation has been covered by what has become to be known as the Balscote Scheme where all activities normally covered by the church wardens are logged and allocated to members of the PCC. The system has worked well for over four years. The village organises several money raising events through the year, such as the fete and a progressive supper. Proceeds for all events are shared on a 50/50 basis with the village hall. The church is financially strong having been the beneficiary of 1805 land allocation recently sold to support the future fabric of the church and surrounding churchyard. The churchyard is open for burials although very little space remains. Drayton

Drayton is one of the smaller parishes, with about 90 dwellings in all. The church of Saint Peter is a lovely building of natural stone. It is about 800 years old. It is in good repair, and has some interesting features. It is in a rather isolated postion and as a result it tends to be kept locked when not in use, with the key available upon request. At the moment we hold a Holy Communion service each month, and mattins every first Sunday as well as playing our part in benefice services, Café Church and Eco

19 church. We continue to use the prayer book for services, albeit we use Lectionary readings like others in the benefice. Our aim is to promote God’s word and to welcome residents and visitors to our fellowship, by serving our community. Hanwell

Hanwell is situated some three and a half miles north of Banbury between the Southam Road (A423) and Warwick Road (B4100). The village is a designated conservation area. At the time of the 2011 census the population was 236. Local Hornton stone has been widely used for housing in the village which has a pub, a village hall, a castle dating from 1498 (now converted into two dwellings) and a church. The earliest record of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter is from 1154, but only the Norman font survives from this time. The north and south doorways are 13th century, the east window of the south aisle are late 13th century, and all are Early English Gothic. In the first half of the 14th century, the church was almost entirely rebuilt in a Transitional style between Early English and Decorated Gothic, and north and south aisles and the Decorated Gothic bell tower were added. The arcades linking the aisles with the nave have capitals decorated with carved figures and the chancel has a frieze of carved people and monsters. Both sets of carvings were made in about 1340 and are the work of a school of masons whose work can be seen also in the parish churches of Adderbury, Bloxham and Drayton. Currently the PCC numbers four persons. The post of Churchwarden remains vacant. There are nine people on the Church Electoral Roll. A working party of villagers was formed earlier in the year, and now meets one Saturday morning every month. Its remit is to clean the church and maintain the churchyard. Their work, plus the work of the flower arrangers leads to many comments of appreciation in the visitors’ book. The church is open daily during daylight hours.

The current pattern of services has been changed in order to accommodate the reduction in the present Ministry. Regular services in both BCP and CW liturgies are attended by only small numbers, whereas special services often fill the church. Hanwell holds a BCP Communion service on the third Sunday in each month and has shared services with other parishes in the benefice. Remembrance Day services have, for a number of years, been shared with Horley. In 2019, Hanwell and Horley will be joined by Drayton. Mothering Sunday service has also been shared with Horley. Hanwell also takes its turn to host the monthly benefice service. Gift Aid is the main source of income for the upkeep of the church. Revenue is boosted by plate collections and personal donations. The Village Hall Committee and the Hanfest organisation also raise money for the church from various events. The church remains solvent with reserves sufficient to support any shortfalls in routine income over routine expenditure in the medium term. However, the need to continue to increase income, through Gift Aid and fundraising events, remains of paramount importance. In 2008 the peal of five bells was augmented to six. The bells are rung regularly and attract visiting groups of ringers. The church plays a central role in local life and in concert with other bodies, does what it can to sustain and improve the community spirit so important in a small rural village. In return, villagers give their continued support for the church. Horley There are about 135 houses in the village of Horley and a population in the region of 330. There are 16 people on the Church Electoral roll. As a response to the declining numbers, the PCC introduced a “friends of St Etheldreda’s” roll which has a membership of approximately 35.

There is a public house with a reputation for fine ale and village social events. The nearest Post Office and shops are in Banbury and its outlying estates. There is no shop. Regrettably there is no longer any bus service.

There has not been a school in Horley for some years; those of primary school age are served by Hornton and Shenington. The Old School has always been owned by the Michael Hardinge Trust and is now let as a Nature Study Centre. It is also used extensively as a parish hall and for social events, often in conjunction with the church for concerts and events such as the Harvest Festival lunch and Frugal lunch on Good Fridays.

There is a thriving cricket club which has successful adult teams and a popular youth section. The yoga and the mothers and toddlers group are also well attended. For the more active there are Zumba sessions and tap dancing classes!

There are few employers in the village. There are two new business parks, one at the old ironstone works and one at Glebe Farm; they have largely superseded both the old quarries and agriculture as the main local employers. The number of families with young children continues to increase, and there are an increasing number of activities, such as the children’s choir which performs at the annual nativity play.

The medieval church of St. Etheldreda forms the focal point of the village. It is Grade 1 and is listed in Pevsner. It is the largest of the benefice churches.

Our services are Holy Communion at 11am on the first Sunday and benefice Café Church at 10am in The Old School. Services are supported by our two resident organists. St. Ethelreda’s has two organs: a three manual Miller Electronic and a very rare and valuable Snetzler Chamber which originated in one of the Chandos palaces in London. The precise circumstances of its journey to Horley are fortunately lost in the mists of time.

The work of the parish is supported by a committed PCC and a core of devoted lay parishioners. Services at Christmas, Easter and other festivals are extremely well attended. Our social events form a useful interaction with the village. We seek to keep the Church at the centre of village life and to extend its reach while not compromising its values.

Most of our services have a congregation of between 8 and 16. There is scope for greater encouragement of children to participate. Until 10 years ago there was a thriving Sunday School and its re-instatement could provide a solid foundation for the future of the village’s spiritual life.

The parish has a covenant income of approximately £4,000 per annum, which against our annual minimum upkeep costs of £10,000+ means that we rely constantly on the goodwill and fundraising activities of the parishioners, and in particular our Ladies Guild. The hard work of the PCC, and in particular our treasurer, has secured grants and donations of over £50,000 towards urgent restoration work. The total needed is a little short of £200,000.

Hornton

Hornton is a small conservation valley village. Many of the houses are 16th Century and are built of the local brown ironstone - Hornton Stone.

Hornton has a thriving primary school, which together with Peachtree Pre-School, forms part of the Warriner School Academy (Bloxham). Many of the pupils come from Banbury and other villages. The school uses the church for large assemblies such as end of term and the Christmas Carol Concert. From this term they will also use it for their weekly, Wednesday afternoon, assembly and, if they wish, may use the space for the rest of the day. It is hoped the new wi-fi, roving sound system and audio visual equipment will encourage further use. Lindy is the Church link here.

The village pub, the popular ‘Dun Cow’, serves food, and new owners have introduced village events such as pizza evenings. Cribbage and dominoes are played. There is a garden and the pub is situated next to the well-equipped village playground where the playground committee has recently added new equipment.

The Parish Church of St John the Baptist has two church wardens and a full complement of PCC members. It is Grade 1 listed and dates from the late 12th century. It has beautiful 14th Century wall paintings, a Norman font and other interesting architectural features. It is likely to have had an anchorite! A recent refurbishment project has provided fellowship space, wheelchair accessible WC, modern servery, and storage facilities. There is a Village Covenant with Hornton’s Methodist Chapel which also has excellent modern facilities. On the first and third Sunday we worship in chapel and on the second and fourth Sunday in church. Other shared activities are festival celebrations and a weekly coffee morning and monthly lunch in chapel. Lindy and the Methodist Steward are prayer partners meeting weekly.

Hornton has a remarkable social life with opportunities for those in neighbouring areas to take part. There is a well equipped, recently updated sports pavilion available for hire. It is next door to both the football field and the all-weather sports

23 surface which facilitates tennis, netball and children’s footy practice! In the various village venues, there is also keep fit, yoga, tai chi and Pilates, plus WI, history group, amateur dramatics, knit and natter, book, art and gardening clubs…… and more!

Wroxton

The village has a population of approximately 500 residents spread throughout its picturesque setting. There is a duck pond and village green as its central point of attractiveness for visitors, many of whom tend to come from nearby outside areas to walk around the village and enjoy the beautiful building of Wroxton Abbey and its surrounding grounds. The Abbey is a place of history and was the home of Lord Frederick North, Prime Minster to George III, but today is currently owned by Farleigh and Dickinson, an American university located in New Jersey, and when purchased in 1965 became the first campus of an American university situated outside the United States.

Our Church of All Saints has occupied the same site since the 14th century, The Rectory stands behind the church and has its own access. The Rectory is a modern four bedroomed house with a large sitting room and a dining room leading off the kitchen, central heating, the usual offices and a separate study. The whole area is open and quiet. It is surrounded by friendly neighbours and figures much in the life of the Church's social activities.

The church has three services at 0945 am during the month, coffee is served on each Sunday after the service. The second Sunday in the month is the Common Worship Holy Communion and the other two services are lay led at the moment.

There is a rota for flowers and keeping the Church clean. The grass is cut by a contractor. We also have a team of bell ringers who practice each week for an hour on Tuesday evenings, and ring when available for Sunday services and also for weddings when the bells are requested. Church attendance is, on average, around 10, but major church festivals are well attended.

To date, during 2019, we have had no weddings and only 3 christenings, but this is unusually quiet.

Our PCC consists of 7 villagers who give their time generously and the Electoral Roll is held at 11. The 2019 Parish Share for Wroxton was £5,865 which is 18% of the total for the Benefice of £32,550. Our Church accounts are in a position of needing to be rebuilt. These sums are much lower than previous years as the Benefice negotiated a rurality allowance for this year; an arrangement it is hoped will continue for the future.

The village holds a street fete in aid of the Church usually on the second Bank Holiday Monday in May. This is our main fund raiser. Later in the year we normally have a harvest lunch which follows the Harvest Service, although for 2019 we are going to experiment with having a Remembrance Sunday Lunch to follow our Remembrance Service. We also have a Progressive Dinner evening at the end of June and perhaps one more fund-raising event. These events, hopefully; keep our Parish Share in view.

The village also has a Roman Catholic church situated opposite the Wroxton Hotel, and this small thatched roof building plays host to services offered to all other villages in the Ironstone Benefice.

The village school is a popular and well-run establishment. Numbers are boosted by many children brought in from Banbury, and with a capacity of 107 pupils it is close to full. The school is a Voluntary Aided School that has its own services in the church to celebrate major festivals. The Rector takes an Assembly once a week and was until this year Vice-Chair of the Governing Body. The school joined the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust in May 2017.

Children in the village are in catchment for well-regarded secondary schools at Warriner, Stratford Grammar and some very good local independent schools, all with bus services.

The village hall has been recently refurbished and, among other things, hosts children’s ballet sessions and yoga classes for all ages. There is also a Coffee Morning held once a month in the hall (usually on the third Tuesday of the month), in aid of Church funds.

The village as a thriving hotel that is fully functioning (it is registered to conduct weddings) and is often used as a reception establishment for weddings conducted in the church. There are two pubs in the village (The North Arms and The White Horse), both of which are currently closed for refurbishment by their new owners.

Charity donations have most recently been made to Children’s Society, Water Aid, The Royal British Legion and Banbury Young Homeless Project.

Activities in Wroxton include a gardening club, a sports club which hosts junior football sessions in the newly built club house, a football pitch and cricket pitch.