Thursday 16th Jan and the Historic Churches Group went visited CS Lewis's Church .... it looks mediaeval, but was in fact only completed in 1849 - the Architect designed it to look ancient so it fitted in with the (still quite rural) landscape around it.

There's plenty on the Church's own website - a video and even a BBC programme, so some highlights from the talk given by Verger Adrian Wood, who hosted us (and gave us welcome coffee at the beginning of the tour!).

The building itself is from local stone - the clue is in the name, Headington Quarry! its limestone and "quite brittle"; theres been a recent extension into the Churchyard, which gives modern facilities and rooms for use by the Congregation and the Community. There have been other alerations - a main one being the replacement of the East Window - the present, modern one is in fact a War Memorial, and panels from the earlier one are preserved in the Lady Chapel.

Of course there is another window that was replaced - the famous Narnia Window, which interestingly is not a memorial to Lewis, but two children of parishioners; the Children both died, and when the parents also died, they left a legacy to the Church - much of this was used in a building project, but the remainder was used to create the window, in memoriam to the children rather than Lewis.

The recent building works have "internalised" the Narnia Window so it is difficult to see it in its full glory! There are plans to put a light behind it to show it off better.

Lewis "Jack" as he was known - worshipped at the Church for most of his life - he had a regular Pew, to the side of the Church almost behind a pillar - he was very unassuming, it seems. He is buried in the Churchyard, and we visited his tomb.

I was using a new camera and none of the photos I took were successful. Penny took some, so these are hers.