All Saints Church, Mixbury
"Mixbury is one of the smaller villages in the Benefice. Most of the houses were built in the 1880's to house people working on the expansion of the railways, several of which passed near to the village (now disused). This is why the older cottages on Main Street are all very uniform in their design. To the west of the village, close to Hanwell farm, it is still possible to make out where the original village of Mixbury stood.
The name Mixbury means " fortification near dung heap" and just to the north of the church is the site of Beaumont Castle, but where the dung heap was is unknown! Sadly the actual castle itself is no longer standing, but the dry moat is visible from Church Lane. In the 13th Century knights from Beaumont would meet knights from Brackley for jousting tournaments in a field down by the River Ouse at the end of Mill Lane. The field is still known as the 'Jousting Ground' today.
All Saints Church, Mixbury evolved from a wooden building to its classic Norman style not long after the Norman Conquest. Like so many churches it was subsequently renovated in Victorian times, something largely undertaken by two generations of rectors from the Palmer family.
In recent years, Mixbury church has been the venue for an annual 'Summer Evening of Cool Jazz', organised (and largely performed) by Matthew Platt. This is always an extremely popular event, which the Normans no doubt took into consideration when designing the excellent acoustic qualities of the church.
A complete history of Mixbury can be found on the British History Online web site.
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