Brize Norton - St Britius Church

About

This is the only church in England dedicated to St. Britius, who was canonised in 443 A.D.

The church itself is Norman, consisting of a chancel and a nave, and was enlarged in the 13th century when a North aisle, the Wenman Chapel and the West tower were added. In 1868 G. E. Street carried out considerable restoration including the paintings on the East wall, the rood screen, pulpit, lectern, pews and benches, as well as the roof and South door.

The churchyard has a number of table tombs together with a remarkable gravestone in memory of John Silman, a blacksmith, which reads:

My sledge and hammer lies declin'd
My bellows too have lost their wind
My fire's extinct my coals decay'd
And in my dust my vice is laid
My days are spent my glass is run
My nails are drove my work is done