St Mary’s Church, Ambrosden

The church has a siting legend attached to it, every morning when the stone masons returned to the field in which the church was being built, they would find the stones to have mysteriously moved to another site. Eventually after happening on a number of occasions the workmen gave up and built the church where the stones reappeared. The Devil was blamed as the prime suspect.

This is a common legend with older churches. It is possible that the churches were moved to sites important to older religions. This would serve a dual purpose, the church could take over pagan sites and people who were not completely converted could worship at the church, in the knowledge that they were praying on a place sanctified to the older faith.

Directions: Ambrosden reached from the A41, Southeast of Bicester.