History of the Heritage Centre

 "A little gem..."

The old medieval village church fell into disrepair after the new All Saints' Church was built in 1826 in the centre of the village. Although the chancel was retained and used as a mortuary chapel and to house the memorials, its condition deteriorated and demolition was threatened in the 1980s.

A Preservation Society was formed in 1988 to fight for its survival as the last medieval building in Churchill and, thanks to fund-raising and grants, over £30,000 was spent to restore the roof and building.

The Heritage Centre opened in 2001 in the restored chancel.  In 2010, it was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to enable work on the maintenance of the building, enhance the displays and extend the projects of the centre.  The Centre is also being supported by grants from West Oxfordshire District Council and Friends of the Cotswolds, for which the management committee is extremely grateful.

The Centre re-opened in April 2011 with touch screen displays, new exhibits and exciting plans for wider public engagement. 

From our guest book 2011:

"Very good new interactive displays, very comprehensive."

"Fantastic, absolutely first class. Most interesting and informative."

"A little gem I didn't know existed."

"Why haven't we been here earlier? We shall certainly return!"

"Excellent to have this centre as a focus for Churchill's history - especially in relation to William Smith."