The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Edburg (now)
Parish church
St Edburg’s is the town church for Bicester in E Oxfordshire. The large 12thc. church had been cruciform, with a chancel, nave, transepts and a central tower. In the 13thc. the chancel was enlarged and the S aisle was added. A N aisle was added in the 14thc., with octagonal piers inserted in the N wall of the nave. The central tower was taken down in the 15thc. and rebuilt at the W end. The removal of the W crossing arch at the same time allowed for a longer nave. The church now comprises a chancel, clerestoried nave, transepts with N and S aisles, a vestry (former N chapel), a W tower and a N porch. Of the Romanesque church, three arches of the original crossing remain. Traces of a chevron stringcourse remain on the transept walls, and on the now interiorised N nave wall between the arcades.