Swyncombe No. 2 / Swincombe

The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Oxford, vol. 18, 2016) notes: "Swyncombe had its own church by the late 11th century, when it belonged to Bec abbey. [...] Swyncombe's late 11th-century church contains a font of similar date, and may have been fully independent from its foundation [...] he dedication to St Botolph (d. 680), an East Anglian abbot, is unusual in Oxfordshire, and perhaps reflects East Anglian connections via the nearby Icknield Way. [...] Certainly the dedication must be medieval, since Bec abbeys 12th-century annual fair at Swyncombe was held at the time of St Botolph's feast (17 June). [...] tubshaped font (recut in the 19th century), and fragments of a pillar piscina with carved capital, discovered in the porch's foundations during Ferreys restoration [...] The earliest fabric is late 11th-century, built almost certainly by masons working for Bec abbey." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SU6824690188] notes: "Church. Late C11, restored in 1831 and by Ferrey in 1850. [...] Norman font recut in mid C19 with mid C19 cover." A former capital probably of the Norman period and now used as a holy-water stoup or piscina [cf. supra]; the capital is cemented to a cylindrical column with a moulded base; the square capital was hollowed out for the new function; the front (?) side has a grotesque human (?) head framed in a large vegetal scroll on either side; the head appears to have something caught in its jaws; more such scrolls at the other three angles.