Photos from walk on 13th March from Nettlebed to Bix

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Standing in an isolated valley a mile north of the village of Bix, the ruins of the old St. James’s church are all that remains of the vanished village of Bix Brand.

 

Although originally dating back to the early 12th Century, the church became unstable and had to be repaired during the 18th century, before falling into further disrepair the following century. The church was eventually abandoned in 1875, around the time that most of the nearby villagers left the area for nearby Bix Gibwyn.

 

The church has now been unused for over 150 years, and makes for an atmospheric ruin. This article by E.A. Greening Lamborn (pdf) contains photographs of the church in a considerably more intact state in 1875, as well as another showing how badly it had fallen into ruin just 30 years later.

 

Please see my source “Dark Oxfordshire” for more details about Paganism, witchcraft, lay lines and UFOs at Bix Old Church, and details of two horror films, with scenes set in the ruins.

 

 

SOAG, The South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group, have conducted a Search for the Site of the Lost Church of Bix Gibwyn. [source]

 

In the Middle Ages Bix comprised two separate parishes, Bix Brand and Bix Gibwyn, each with its own church and manor house. The parishes were amalgamated in the late Middle Ages, the Bix Gibwyn church being abandoned. The church of Bix Brand – St. James – is in the valley of Bix Bottom, but over the centuries population in the valley declined and increasing traffic on the road from Henley to Nettlebed attracted development up the hill adjacent to what is now the A423. In 1875 a new church, close to the road, was built. St James was abandoned and is now a picturesque ruin.

 

Signs of spring in the hedge arround the church.  Ash:

 

Probably oak

 

Definitely hazel

 

A well layed hedge

 

A wintery feel when approaching Lowercommon Wood

 

Lunch stop

 

Mossy tree stump…

 

… with water droplets in spider’s web

 

Deer crossing

 
Joyce Grove (1908) railings

 

Joyce Grove is a country house built in a Jacobethan style in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, England. It was formerly owned by Sue Ryder (charity) which, until March 2020 operated its Nettlebed Palliative Care Facility.

 

Completed in 1908, Joyce Grove is a large Jacobethan style building designed by Charles Edward Mallows (1864–1915) for Robert Fleming (1845–1933), founder of Robert Fleming and Co. merchant bank. Robert Fleming’s grandson, Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, spent much of his childhood at Joyce Grove.

 

The site has been sold to Beechcroft Developments of Wallingford for conversion to a residential care home. [Source: Wikipedia]

 

A planning application granted to Sue Ryder for the re-development of the former hospice and surrounding buildings includes a requirement to provide a footpath running from the entrance gate close to the High Street on the eastern side of the village to the western side of Joyce Grove near the Nettlebed Creamery. The planning conditions stipulate that the footpath needed to be opened prior to the first residents moving into the apartments.

 

However, Beechcroft Developments decided not to wait for the planning application to be implemented, and the path [map] was open in June 2022 [Source: Nettlebed Community website]

 

Hence we could have completed the walk with a visit to the Creamery without having to walk down the main road!

 

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