The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Leonard and St James (pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales))
Parish church
The village lies entirely within the parkland of Rousham House in the Cherwell valley in N Oxfordshire, 11 miles distant from both Oxford and Banbury. The earliest church presumably consisted of nave and chancel. In the late C12th, the first bay of a S arcade was begun at the E end of the nave. A W tower was built in the early C13th The chancel was repaired or rebuilt in 1304. Later in the C14th, a S chapel was added and the S arcade and aisle extended the full length of the nave. The church was restored in 1867-8, and the chancel was rebuilt using some late C12th material. The Romanesque work comprises the re-used nookshafts and capitals of the chancel arch, and the first bay of the S arcade. The latter has an E respond with trumpet scallops on the capital and a round pier with a large decorated polygonal capital.