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- 1. St Mary, Bampton, Oxfordshire, England
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Quasi-collegiate church in 12thc., now parish church St Mary's is a large church, now consisting of chancel, N vestry, S chancel chapel, N transept with E chapel, S transept with W chapel, crossing with tower and spire, and aisled nave. Remains of the primary nave, rubble-built with herringbone courses, are 11thc. or earlier. The chancel arch is late 11thc. or early 12thc.; there is documentary evidence, and some archaeological evidence, for a big W tower existing by the 1140s. The church was grandly remodelled during the second half of the 12thc. The tower on crossing-arches was raised over the E part of the former nave, large new transepts and chancel were built, and there was probably a S aisle. A plain round-headed single-splayed window remains in the W wall of each transept. The belfry openings, one in each face of the tower, were remodelled in the 13thc. but retain the plain square jambs and under-chamfered abaci of the 12thc. openings. It was stated in 1871 that `the rough traces of three or four Norman windows in the N wall [of the chancel] were brought to light, when the plaster was stripped. All the masonry of these windows had been apparently removed' (Notes of an Excursion..., 34-5).
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