Tackley

The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas is cruciform. It dates from the 11th century and has several remnants of its original Saxon stonework. The south aisle, east windows and lower part of the tower are 13th century. In the 15th century the Perpendicular Gothic clerestory and upper part of the tower were built and both transepts were rebuilt. The north transept was rebuilt again in 1616 as a family chapel for John Harbourne. In 1862 lightning struck and damaged the church, and in 1864 the Oxford Diocesan architect, the Gothic Revivalist G.E. Street directed a restoration of St. Nicholas’ that the 20th century critics Jennifer Sherwood and Nikolaus Pevsner called “rather insensitive”.

 In the 12th century both Osney Abbey and Eynsham Abbey acquired lands in the parish. Eynsham Abbey’s holdings in Tackley included the watermill at Catsham. However, by the time Thomas Cromwell made the Valor Ecclesiasticus for King Henry VIII in 1535, both abbeys had ceased to hold any property in the parish. From 1725 every Rector of Tackley was also a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford. Several were distinguished scholars but most had several other parishes and were absentee rectors of Tackley. Since 1976 St. Nicholas’ has belonged to a united Church of England Benefice with the neighbouring parishes of North Aston and Steeple Aston.

The church tower has a ring of six bells.

Richard Keene of Woodstock cast the fifth and tenor bells in 1664 and the third bell in 1689. John Warner and Sons of Cripplegate, London cast the second and fourth bells in 1859. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble bell in 1924.

There is also a Sanctus bell that was cast by an unknown founder in 1792.

TREBLE (D):

2 (C):

4-3-10 c.w.t.

Mears & Stainbank

1924

2 (C):

5-1-17 c.w.t.

John Warner & Sons

1859

3 (B♭):

6-1-23 c.w.t.

Richard Keene

1689

4 (A):

8-0-7 c.w.t

John Warner & Sons

1859

5 (G):

10-1-9 c.w.t.

Richard Keene

1664

Tenor (F):

13-3-15 c.w.t.

Richard Keene

1664