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Oxford Psalmody
(previously Oxford Occasionals
2000-2012)
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Leaders:
Edwin Macadam and Sheila Girling Macadam |
2019
The 20th and last Church Visitation within the Diocese of Oxford will take place on
Saturday 7 September
in the area to
the south-east of Oxford commencing
9.30 am at
St Mary's Church,
CHALGROVE
when Coffee will be served
Singing wii commence at 10.00 am
(Come early, there is lots to see in the
church,
compared with our last visit in 2009) |
Instruments, accompanied by their
players, are all most welcome
- indeed, they are a necessity !! Please invite your friends as well !
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MUSIC
for the Visitation is in course of
preparation,
but
Link
HERE.
This
is an
ongoing process, so come
back to check from time to time.
|
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More
information is available later, so come back
here again soon!
|
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Please remember - your
individual
donations to churches
are a vital ingredient of the day,
especially where refreshments have been provided.
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Please
read the
NOTES
first,
and act thereupon!
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N.B. The same
warning as last year as to the state of the roads
in Oxfordshire. Work is being carried
out, but deep potholes partly hidden by
vegetation, and roadside edges remain
dangerous
...
BEWARE !
Itinerary (times are hoped to be
fairly accurate!) |
9.30
– 10.00
Chalgrove,
Oxfordshire The Church of St Mary
Singing from 10.00 am

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Landranger
Map 164
Grid Ref SU
636965
Church Lane,
Chalgrove.
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Nearest Post Code : OX
44 7SD
Note: The post code takes you to a point in
the road immediately behind the
church. Better to use 'Church
Lane'.
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Map:
Click here The link takes you to part
of the church web site.
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 | Parking
is available around the church
on the track which encircles it.
Drive clockwise round the
church, and park behind who is
in front of you! There is space
at places adjoining the track,
on the grass.
|
 | Coffee will be served by members of the
Church, for which no charge will be made,
but please remember this in your
donation.
Part of the refurbishment has
included
a new kitchen and other
facilities for the traveller! |
|

Since our last visit in 2009, a huge
amount of restoration work has been
carried out with the aid of
grants from a
considerable number of Trusts, both
national and private. Details are
recorded on the church web site at:
http://chalgrovechurch.org/conservation-refurbishment-project-2015-2016/
together with two videos. Click on
picture to enlarge.
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Photos: Edwin Macadam
- from 2009 |
Church history on their website at:
http://chalgrovechurch.org/heritage/
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The nave dates from around 1150 and is
the earliest part of this building. It
was almost certainly built, following
the anarchy, by Peter Boterel, Keeper of
Wallingford Castle, whose chief seat was
Chalgrove. |
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The church and community of Chalgrove
were closely connected with Wallingford
from Saxon times until 1317. When the
Norman castle of Wallingford was built
its chapel was linked to three churches,
of which Chalgrove was one, forming the
Prebend. The priests were royal clerks,
appointed by the king, whose patronage
would explain the unusually fine
architecture of St Mary’s and the high
quality of its lavish wall paintings. |
 |
View the interior on 360 degree picture
format at
http://chalgrovechurch.org/360/ You
will be amazed at the difference! |
 |
picures at left were taken during our last
visit in 2009. |
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11.15 - 12.00
Easington, Oxfordshire The Church of St Peter.



Photos: Edwin Macadam : 2009
visit ! |
Landranger
Map 164
Grid Ref SU 662971
Also: OS Explorer map:
171:
Chiltern Hills West
(No address) Easington
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Map:
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
51.66869,-1.04445,13/pin
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Nearest
Post Code :
Dower House, Easington,
Watlington OX 49 5AZ
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Parking is being arranged in the
farmyard beside which the church can be
found. This is a minute rural hamlet of
about 100 people, so please park as
tidily as you can. The farmyard may be
busy, so beware tractors - and children,
etc. |
 | The
access track to the farm is a single
farm track, and as such is narrow,
although visibility is good. Access to
the church from the farmyard is "rural"!
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|
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Easington church is a small, low
barn-like structure, with a simple
rectangular plan and no architectural
division between nave and chancel. The
chancel's limestone masonry is, however,
better dressed and more evenly coursed
than that of the nave. The earliest
surviving features are 12th-century,
including reset zigzag moulding over one
of the south windows, and stonework in
the reset north doorway, which has a
rounded chamfered arch, quatrefoil
ornament, and votive crosses. |
 |
The church appears to have been rebuilt
or much altered in the early 14th
century, the date of some of the
windows, the piscina, and a few floor
tiles. The nave's three-bay roof,
arch-braced with a collartruss, dates
from the mid 15th to early 16th
century. |
 |
By the 1520s the building was in a poor
state, and there may have been several
subsequent phases of repair. An early
19th-century drawing shows numerous
buttresses, a small western bellcote
(restored in the 20th century), and an
enclosed porch, since replaced by the
present open timber porch. |
 |
The two larger windows in the south wall
are probably Victorian. The canopied
pulpit was constructed in 1916 from
panels dated 1633, and the 14th-century
east window contains reset fragments of
contemporary stained glass. Charles
Greenwood donated some modern stained
glass in 1904. |
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See British History on line at:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol18/pp180-191#h3-0017 |
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12.30 – 1.45
LUNCHEON
will be partaken at
THE CHEQUERS Berrick Salome
Post Code OX 10 6JN
https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Restaurant/
Berrick_Salome-OX10_6JN-Chequers-rbjlpel3
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 | We
have visited The Chequers each time we
have visited this area of the Diocese,
and each time the menu has been
enlarged, and aimed at an increasinly
affluent society. |
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The
choice from the available menu is
good, although expect the cost to be a
little more than in past times.
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 | The Inn
has featured in the Michelin
Guide for several years. See link to the
Guide. (to left). |
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2.15
– 3.30 Brightwell Baldwin,
Oxfordshire The Church of St Batholomew
Singing from 2.30 pm
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Landranger
Map 164
Grid Ref SU 653950
Also: OS Explorer map: 171:
Chiltern Hills West
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Photos: Edwin Macadam |
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Always expect the unexpected - murder is
afoot (as always in Midsomer Murders.
See pictures of the church at
http://midsomermurders.org/locationsy.htm |
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This
church has always been ubavailable when
we enquired in the past, but this year
we have the key of the door! |
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The
church encompasses the whole range of
church music, from West Gallery time to
the present day:
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a
long music desk in what might be
interpreted as a Singers' box pew
(alternatively the Manor pew?) |
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a
Joseph Walker barrel organ (1843),
restored 1960. |
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a
harmonium |
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the present organ |
|
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See
our churches and chapels web site at
http://www.westgallerychurches.com/
Oxford/indexoxon.html |
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The
barrel organ originally had three
barrels, but only the tunes on two of
them have been recorded, ten on each:
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Barrel No. 1:
Morning Hymn, Wareham, Pastoral
or Surrey, Devizes, Sheldon
or New York, Portuguese Hymn,
Angels' Hymn, Shirland, Eaton, and Lord Mornington's
Chant. |
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Barrel No. 2:
Evening Hymn, Luther's Hymn,
Abridge, Cambridge New, Lansdown
or Bath, Babylon, Sicilian or
Mariners, Hanover Old 104th, Easter
Hymn, and Robinson's Chant. |
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The music for many of these psalms
can be found in the WGMA Psalter, Praise & Glory. |
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4.00
– 4.45 Singing 4.45-5.45 (possibly get there a bit earlier,
lots to
see)
TEA
will be
partaken in the CHURCH at
Ewelme, Oxfordshire
The Church of St Mary the
Virgin
Post Code
The Church does not have a postcode.
OX10 6HS
is The
Cloisters,
south of the Church.
The Cloisters
are
Almshouses.
OX10 6HN is
Parson's Lane,
north of the Church. |
Landranger
Map 164
Grid Ref SU 646914
Also: OS Explorer map: 171:
Chiltern Hills West
Parsons Lane, Ewelme, Wallingford.
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St Mary the Virgin parish church at
Ewelme, showing the Almshouses at
the west end
Photo
: Wikipedia |

Photo:
Edward Lever

Photo: Edwin Macadam
 Photos: ? Taken in 2009 Visitation |
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St
Mary the Virgin, Ewelme, is modelled on
that at Wingfield, Suffolk, part of the
Duke of Suffolk's estates. |
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Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet Geoffrey
Chaucer, lived in Ewelme, during which
time he was Governor of
Wallingford Castle and five times
Speaker of the House of Commons. |
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His
daughter Alice married William de la
Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and it was their
vision to both adopt, and adapt, the
alterations already put in hand by
Thomas Chaucer which effectively created
a chantry chapel and trust which was set
up in 1437 under licence from Henry VI.
The Duke and Duchess reordered the
chapel, which is dedicated to St John,
and built the Almshouses and a School. |
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Their
elaborate tombs are well preserved and
are to be seen in the chapel of St John,
to the right of the main altar. Find the
alabaster cadaver?!
Whose?? |
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Further details about church history,
etc, etc:
http://www.fordsfarm.co.uk/Ewelme-I.html
and |
 |
https://www.achurchnearyou.com/
church/111/find-us/ |
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Daniel Warner of Ewelme published
several books of church music, the first
being " A Collection of Some Verses
out of The Psalms of David". This
was 1694, and, according to the title
page, the book was revised by Henry
Purcell. The first tune, set to Psalm I,
is entitled 'Ewelm'. As a Singing
Master, Warner is credited to some
extent in the education of other such
early local church composers in and near
the Thames Valley, such as William
Beesly, Matthew Wilkins, and (possibly)
Michael Broom(e), when he was at
Abingdon. |
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Photo:
Edwin Macadam |
 | The
evening repast, if required,can be partaken
at the SHEPHERDS' HUT, an Hostelry run by
Messrs Green King.
|
 | The ale at our last visit was very
acceptable, and their evening menu served
with enthusiasm, and equally good. Venison
sausages were delicious!
|
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A table
will be reserved for us, but please confirm
the liklihood of your staying in the evening
so that we have adequate seating. Using a
table just for drinking, and no food,
is
acceptable! |
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NOTES
Action NOW, please.
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Please bring your copies of
The Sacred Harp and Praise & Glory,
if you have
them. |
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There
is also a west gallery music booklet this year.
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Singing will be from all three sources.
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Small
numbers of an Extract from the SH will be available on
the
day, and there will be limited numbers
of P&G available.
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TEA is to
be provided by the Friends of Ewelme Church, led by
Sally Fehr. The Rector of Ewelme,
along with Brightwell
Baldwin, Easington and Benson is
The Reverend Dr.
Patrick Gilday, who has also
been able to open doors
where we could not!
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LUNCH at the Chequers Inn,
Berrick Salome.
Here is the LUNCH
MENU
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Please confirm
to us what you would like to eat,
by
way of starters and/or
main meals, and
who wants to eat it,
and
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remember that the cost of drinks
and puddings
must be paid separately to the
Wheatsheaf Inn,
then
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add
to this cost the sum of
£6
per person to
cover the cost of the music booklet,
tea, etc.,
then
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send us
a cheque
(made payable to
S & E Macadam) for the total beforehand.
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Lunch orders (and who ordered what!)
+ cheques please should arrive no later than
a.m.
on
Monday
2 September, and preferably
well before,
please!
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Please do not give us cash or cheques on
the day!!!
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Thank you!!!
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Please will
you also be prepared to make a donation
to each of the four churches
that we visit.
Remember
that Chalgrove is providing
refreshments
Thank you
again! |
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See below for contact address, etc,
for Oxford Psalmody.
Listen to the following mp3 files, recorded by Gary Sherman:
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Africa - Sacred Harp
music from St Michael's, Northgate, Oxford
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Babylon Streams - Trinity
College Chapel |
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Cookes Canon - University College
Chapel |
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Psalm 69 in a setting by Jarvis -
St Michael's, Northgate |
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The 'Worms' Anthem by William
Knapp - Trinity College Chapel |
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Shropshire Funeral Hymn -
University Church of St Mary the Virgin |
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mp3
mp3
mp3
mp3
mp3
mp3 |
Visit
http://www.archive.org/details/WestGalleryMusic-OxfordOccasionals
for further recordings of the 2008 tour of Oxford churches and college chapels, and from where you
can download a number of free media files. You also have the chance
to comment on them!! |

Since
September 2000, a group of singers and instrumentalists from many different
parts of England have spent a day each year, touring churches and chapels in
different parts of the County and Diocese of Oxford, to recreate the psalmody and
hymnody of more than 150 years ago.
Oxford
Psalmody is a gathering of members of the
West Gallery Music Association, formed
in 1990 to revive the music of the rural parish churches, so much beloved
of Thomas Hardy and exemplified in his novels and poetry.
Hardy wrote
of times past, the days when his father and grandfather were members of the
local church ‘band’, playing to accompany the quire in the specially
constructed ‘west gallery’ in
Stinsford Church.
The psalm tunes used during, before and after services in country churches,
were often by local, untutored composers, frequently bearing the
names of local streets, villages or landmarks. This raw and exciting
music was much beloved, and jealously guarded, by its custodians in the west
gallery; records exist of quires refusing the vicar’s instruction to sing a
particular tune to the psalm of the day, preferring to use another more to
their liking. With the passing of the years, all too frequently what
was initially a tussle for control of the conduct of services became an
issue of conflict with the clergy and the squire as patron.
The
emergence of Tractarianism and the
Oxford Movement, together with the
introduction of Hymns Ancient & Modern in 1861,
saw the
wresting back of control by the church establishment, with the introduction
of surpliced choirs, often with small boys taking the tune, previously the
sinecure of adult, male, tenors. The installation of keyboard
instruments, such as harmoniums, barrel or finger organs spelt the end of
the accompanying band of cellos, clarinets,
violins, flutes, bassoons and the (more than) occasional serpent.
These instrumentalists, and their singing companions, first found their way
to the Independent chapels, where they continued to sing and play the old
tunes they loved, but by the beginning of the twentieth century, in all but
a few outposts, the old way of church psalmody was lost and virtually
forgotten in England.
Such a fate
did not attend the descendants of those settlers who took English country
psalmody to America. In New England, from as early as the middle of the
eighteenth century, English psalm tune books were being sold in Boston
within months of their publication in England. This music inspired
native-born composers, just as untutored as their compatriots on the other
side of the Atlantic, and by 1770 a leather tanner,
William Billings
of Boston, had produced the first compilation of psalm tunes by a colonist.
There was a flowering of ethnic composition immediately before and after the
War of Independence, and the fervour for native psalmody spread throughout
the Eastern United States, finding its firmest and what has become a
permanent
foothold to this day, in the southern states, particularly Alabama and
Georgia. Here the music notation has evolved with shaped note heads as
a singing aid, rather than the ordinary round note heads and thus the term
‘shapenote music’ is often used to describe American psalmody.
Oxford Psalmody sing from both the English
and the American traditions. Our native tunes are usually accompanied, as
they were intended to be, but the psalm tunes of our American cousins are
sung a capella. These tunes are vibrant and exciting, and are a great joy to
sing and play. The group have as their watchword the instruction of a
Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford - John Wesley - to “sing lustily and with good
courage”.
Pictures are taken from the West Gallery
Music Association publication Good Singing Still by Rollo G Woods, Totton, Hants 1995 ISBN: 1 899947 00 0.
Some of
them have previously appeared in an edition of a novel by Washington Irvine.

|
Oxford Psalmody
30 Eynsham Road, Botley, Oxford. OX2 9BP
Tel: +44 (0)1865 865773
Emails: (replace - at - with
@)
 | shelwin8 - at - tiscali.co.uk |
 | edwinmacadam - at - gmail.com |
Google Map to get there.
See our
separate website
for the Oxford Sacred Harp Singers.
See also Immanuel's Ground,
the west gallery quire based in Warwick which we run, and
which supports Oxford Psalmody.
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The
Oxford Sacred Harp Singers meet
regularly to sing Sacred Harp music on the first and third
Sunday afternoons
of every month in
Headington, Oxford. They
continue to sing together on the annual Oxford Church
Visitation tour at the beginning of September, and at the
annual Oxford Sacred Harp singing day at the Women's
Institute Hall, North Hinksey, Botley, Oxford, at
the end of June.
See also their FaceBook
page at:
Contact for Oxford Sacred Harp is
Julie
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