Hempton Church

St John's Church, Hempton

Schedule of Services

1st and 3rd Sunday of month Eucharist 9am
4th Sunday of month             Evensong 6pm

Hempton Church, or to give it its full name, The Church of St John the Evangelist, has seen many ups and downs since it was founded in 1851. In the 1980s things looked very down and there was ugly talk amongst the ecclesiastical authorities of selling it off. That was when the people of Hempton rose up and, at a meeting crammed to overflowing, let the powers that be know in no uncertain terms that they wanted their village church to stay alive. Thus it was that the Friends of Hempton Church was formed by a group of concerned Hemptonians to raise money and help keep the Church a continuing part of Hempton's existence. Much hard work was put into fund raising and in 1995 the Charity Commission recognised the Friends.

Attached to the church is the old Victorian schoolroom and one of the committee's major efforts has been to convert this into a worthwhile village hall. Enough money has been raised by fund-raising and grants to modernise this by building on kitchen and toilet facilities and this work has now been completed.

Friends of Hempton Church

The aim of the Friends is to see the church prosper as a living place of worship as well as to provide a secular meeting-place that will be the focus of the village. Everyone is invited to become a member and original ideas for fund-raising and other activities are always welcome. 

For contact details, see the DIRECTORY

Deddington Map Group

St John's Church

This church was built in 1851 by Franklins of Deddington, on land bought by the Rev. William Wilson, rector of Over Worton, and the Rev. William Cotton Risley, retired vicar of Deddington. It was designed and paid for by the Rev. Wilson, who also gave the 12th century font from his own church. The church originally had a north aisle, which was used as a school, but the arches were filled in, in the 1960s, when the school was no longer needed. In 1988, St John's was threatened with closure, but was saved by the determined efforts of the Friends of Hempton Church.

Independent or Congregational Chapel

Now a private house, this chapel was built in 1840, listed in the Oxfordshire Religious Census of 1851, and closed in the 1950s.