CHURCH
Origins, Status, and Services
Evidence for an early chapel at Curbridge is lacking. (fn. 1) The
possibility that an unexplained piece of glebe in
Curbridge village marked the site of a lost chapel is
discussed above, (fn. 2) though reference in 1241 to a
Curbridge felon seeking sanctuary in Curbridge church
was probably an error for Witney church, which stood
just within the township. (fn. 3) By the 15th century and until
the 19th Curbridge inhabitants worshipped at Witney
church, of which the south door was called the
Curbridge door, (fn. 4) and the south transept aisle, by 1485,
the Caswell aisle. (fn. 5) The township was usually represented in church affairs by its own churchwarden,
although sometimes in the 16th century by a sidesman
only. (fn. 6)
A proposal in 1815 by local farmers to build a chapel
of ease for Curbridge was not supported by the rector,
Robert Barnard, who regarded accommodation at
Witney as adequate and was unwilling to fund a separate
curate. (fn. 7) A later rector, Charles Jerram, held weekly
lectures at Curbridge from 1834, and in 1836 a small
chapel with attached schoolroom, financed by private
donations, was opened. At first it was licensed only for
divine service, but later acquired a burial ground and in
1847 was consecrated. (fn. 8)
Curbridge chapel remained dependent on Witney, its
upkeep supported by collections and donations; by 1872
there was a building fund. (fn. 9) The chapel was served by
curates who usually also served Hailey; in the 1880s they
held daily services, with two each Sunday. (fn. 10) William
Mills, long-serving curate in the 1860s, was popular,
despite being judged weak and inefficient by the
bishop. (fn. 11) Cyril Jenkyn, curate in the early 20th century,
was instrumental in rebuilding the chapel in 1906. (fn. 12)
After the Second World War the growing popularity
of Methodism was attributed to neglect of the cure. In
the 1960s one of Witney's curates was given special
charge of Curbridge and of the new chapel of St Luke on
the Windrush estate, and close co-operation was established with the Methodists until their chapel closed in
1978. After the closure of St Luke's and of Crawley
church the team vicar of West Witney, appointed in
1988, had sole charge of Curbridge. (fn. 13)
Church Architecture
The chapel of 1836 (Fig. 69), dedicated to St John the
Baptist, was built on largely waste land next to the pound
on the north side of Main Road. It was of stone with a
central south doorway, two- and three-light, squareheaded, mullioned windows with drip-moulds, a
bell-turret, and an undivided interior providing about
100 free seats; there was a small attached schoolroom on
the north. (fn. 14) Proposals to rebuild were made as early as
1865 (fn. 15) but, apart from the addition of a porch and in
1895 a small apsidal chancel designed by C. C. Rolfe, few
changes were made until 1906 when the derelict
building was demolished. (fn. 16)
A new church designed by Nicholson & Corlette was
built to the north-east, within the extended churchyard.
69. Curbridge: St John's chapel (demolished 1906) in 1873.
The cost (around £750) was met by grants and private
donations, notably from the curate, Cyril Jenkyn, and
Thomas Foreshew, a director of Clinch's brewery with
land in Curbridge. (fn. 17) The building comprised a chancel
and nave of coursed limestone rubble with red pantile
roofs, carried down low on the south over a vestry and
organ chamber, and surmounted by an open bell-turret
and tall chimney. The style of the exterior, a picturesque
mixture of southern Romanesque and Early English
features, has been described as Mediterranean. (fn. 18) The
plain plastered interior is English in character and has
original rood beam, pews, pulpit, and other interior
furniture, painted green with red, white, and black decoration. An organ replaced a harmonium in 1958. (fn. 19) The
stained-glass east window is of 1906. The church plate
includes a silver paten of 1876 and an electro-plated
chalice and alms plate. (fn. 20) The single bell of 1836 was given
by Charles Jerram, rector. (fn. 21) The churchyard was enlarged
on the north east in 1898, and a small strip added on the
south east in 1974. (fn. 22) Registers of christenings and burials
begin in 1847. (fn. 23)
NONCONFORMITY
The Wenmans of Caswell, though never listed as
recusants, were related to prominent recusant families
and probably had Roman Catholic sympathies. (fn. 24) Six
recusants were named in 1621, of whom at least four
were of the family of William Tempest of Caswell,
gentleman, (fn. 25) but no other reference to recusancy in
Curbridge has been found.
Three houses in Curbridge were licensed for Nonconformist meetings in 1816 and 1825, probably by Methodists: the township was briefly on the Witney Primitive
Methodist circuit plan in the mid 1820s, (fn. 26) and Wesleyan
Methodists were preaching there every Sunday by
1832. (fn. 27) Curbridge was again included in the Witney
Primitive Methodists' circuit in 1845, and from 1860
efforts were made to secure a permanent chapel site
there. (fn. 28) Not until 1871, however, was a wooden chapel,
bought from Shilton, erected outside the village on the
west side of the Bampton road, on land belonging to the
Hickmans, who were chapel members. (fn. 29) The meeting
was served from Witney, and in 1900 had a congregation
of 40 and 19 members. (fn. 30)
In 1902 a new chapel with 100 sittings was built on
Main Road on land given by Alfred Allsworth, the village
postmaster; many chapel trustees were from prominent
village families, notably the Beckinsales, Goulds,
Townsends, and Hickmans. (fn. 31) The old chapel continued
as a school until demolished in 1908, when a schoolroom was added to the new chapel. (fn. 32) The chapel and
Sunday school flourished in the early 20th century, with
as many as 80 'adherents' in the 1920s; (fn. 33) the chapel
became part of the United Methodist circuit in 1932. As
late as the 1970s the rector of Witney acknowledged the
predominant influence of the Methodists in Curbridge,
particularly with the young, (fn. 34) but by then membership
had fallen to fewer than 20, and services ceased in 1978. (fn. 35)
The chapel, of squared and rusticated stone, with a
Welsh slate roof and decorative bargeboards on the
gable, continued in use for parish council and other
meetings. (fn. 36)
Some Curbridge inhabitants were members of Cote
Baptist church in 1883, and in 1910 A. W. Townsend of
Manor Farm was deacon. (fn. 37)