St Mary, Banbury
St Mary, Banbury
St Mary’s is Banbury’s Grade I Classical parish church on Horse Fair, Oxfordshire, the town’s principal landmark, in the Diocese of Oxford.
- Location
- Banbury, Oxfordshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Oxfordshire
- City / town
- Banbury
- Address
- Horse Fair, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 0AA
- Postcode
- OX16 0AA
- Built
- 1790–97; tower and portico 1818–22; interior remodelled c.1858–81
- Consecrated
- 6 September 1797
- Architect
- Samuel Pepys Cockerell; Charles Robert Cockerell (tower and portico); Arthur Blomfield (Victorian interior)
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Oxford
- Parish
- Banbury St Mary
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Classical
- Materials
- Hornton stone (Lias Marlstone); rusticated ground floor, ashlar above
- Grid reference
- SP 454 405
- Opening hours
- We try to keep the church open regularly throughout the year.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
The medieval cruciform church was damaged in the Civil War and became unsafe; part collapsed on a Sunday morning in April 1790, the tower the next day. An Act of 1790 enabled a replacement on the same site. Samuel Pepys Cockerell designed a large Classical church with a square nave of Ionic columns under a shallow dome and galleries on all four sides. It opened for divine service on 6 September 1797. The VCH records foundations of reused medieval stone and walls of Lias Marlstone (Hornton stone). Charles Robert Cockerell added the west portico and circular ‘pepper-pot’ tower in 1818–22.
Arthur Blomfield remodelled the interior from the 1860s for the Revd Henry Back, raising the chancel, adding an apse and a rich colour scheme with stained glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The listing notes Blomfield fittings including marble chancel walls, a Godwin pavement, organ case and pulpit by Rattee and Kett, and a 1876 chancel depiction of Christ in Majesty. The church is Banbury’s only Grade I listed building (1369519).