The Reverend Clare Sykes recently been appointed to be the new Rector of the Osney Benefice. The Benefice includes the parishes of St. Frideswide, Osney with St. Margaret, Binsey and St. Lawrence, North Hinksey with Ss Peter and Paul, Botley. Clare is currently working in the small market town of Bromyard in Herefordshire as an Associate Minister. She is also Rural Dean of Bromyard. Clare will be bringing with her twenty years of parish ministerial experience, as well as plenty of life experience. Clare is married to Graham and they have two daughters. Clare says “My family and I are really looking forward to moving to Oxford in July when I will take up my appointment. Having grown up just outside High Wycombe, the city of Oxford is familiar territory to me and I look forward to reacquainting myself with it. Most of all I am looking forward to joining the people of this benefice as together we grow in our discipleship, worship together and in God’s name seek to serve the people of west Oxford”.
Thank you for visiting Friends of Binsey.
The church of St Margaret of Antioch in Binsey, located a short walk from Oxford, is a much loved and visited church of outstanding architectural and historical significance. It dates from the twelfth century, and its churchyard is the site of St Frideswide’s treacle well.
Both church and well were re-ordered by T. J. Prout in the nineteenth century, and Prout’s friendship with Lewis Carroll explains the presence of the “treacle well” in Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland.
The aim of Friends of Binsey is to bring together the many people who have enjoyed the tranquil and spiritual qualities of St Margaret’s church and its holy well, and to involve them in the support and preservation of this special place.
The aims of Friends of Binsey are:
- To preserve this historic Church in its peaceful setting and allow it to remain accessible to all visitors.
- To support the work of the Church in the Parish and maintain regular Services.
- To encourage events and activities that increase interest in and knowledge of St Margaret’s Binsey.
- To be a point of contact for people unable to regularly visit the Church and participate in its services.
Would you like to help? Please consider joining the Friends of Binsey, your support for the Church will be greatly appreciated.
