Oxhey

St Matthew, keyholders listed, is a rather dull brick built c. 1880 building so I didn't bother seeking out the keyholders. This may have been a mistake since it looks like they've got some good glass by Karl Parsons, an artist I've not come across before.

From their website:

"The church was built to the designs of Messrs. Coe & Robinson. The construction was largely of red brick and the distinctive spire, with its three bands of white stone, is a familiar landmark locally, as well as to travellers through Bushey on the West Coast mainline. The building is Grade II Listed.....The original design for the church has been altered slightly over time. An extra pair of doors was added at the main entrance to help prevent draughts. The original vestry was converted into the present Lady Chapel in 1891 when a new vestry was built on to the west end of the church. Other changes to the interior were made in 1939, under the direction of Sir Charles Nicholson. The Chancel and Sanctuary walls were whitened and the roof coloured. The original altar and reredos were moved to the north aisle, to be replaced by a stone altar in the English style."

 

Oxhey. Here a group of early Christians settled 100 years before King Alfred, when much of England was still heathen, and here in 1612 Judge James Altham built a red chapel on the site of their house of prayer. Two copper beeches overhang the chapel, a green grass carpet bordered with flowers leads to its door, and inside we find Judge Altham in his red robes saying endless prayers in stone, his wife with him. When his house was rebuilt in 1688 its old oak was used for the handsome reredos, with massive twisted columns and a pediment. More old woodwork and finely carved modern teak fills the rest of the chapel. Framed on the wall is a facsimile of a Latin charter of 1007 now in the Bodleian Library, with a translation telling that King Ethelred grants once again to St Albans Abbey Offa’s stolen gift of Oaxanehaeg, or, as we call it today, Oxhey.

Oxhey Hall is an early 16th-century house with a fine panelled ceiling in one of the rooms and an old barn near by.

The rural character of the neighbourhood is now completely lost and it has become an appendage to Bushey and a suburb of Watford.

Flickr.