Langford - St Matthew's Church

The Domesday Book of 1086 records that a Saxon, Ælfsige of Faringdon, held the manor here.

St Matthew's was established as a chapelry of the Anglo-Saxon minster of St. Mary's, Bampton. Later in the Anglo-Saxon era Langford was elevated to a minster. Langford was part of the Diocese of Lincoln until the Diocese of Oxford was established under Henry VIII in 1541.

The oldest parts of the present church are the bell tower and nave, which were built in the 11th century. They may post-date the Norman conquest of England, but they are work by Anglo-Saxon masons.

The north and south aisles were added in about 1200 and the south porch in the 13th century, all in the Early English Gothic style.

The porch includes two Anglo-Saxon stone rood reliefs, but they are repositioned and their original sites are not known. The one on the east wall of the porch is 8th century and has lost its head. The one on the south gable of the porch is 10th century and has been assembled with Christ's left and right arms swapped over and the figures of Saint Mary and Saint John the Evangelist also transposed.