This ancient church, dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, is situated at the end of the village of Mapledurham in Oxfordshire on the banks of the River Thames. There has been a church on this site since Norman times. Nearby are Mapledurham House and the Watermill, both of which date back to Doomsday England. Mapledurham appears in Doomsday as two manors, Mapledurham Gurney belonging to William de Warenne, and the smaller Mapledurham Chazey belonging to Milo Crispin, Lord of the honour of Wallingford. The larger manor takes its name from Gerard de Gournay, to whom it passed as a marriage portion. It passed again by marriage in about 1270 to the Bardolfs, who were here for about 120 years, until the death in 1395 of Sir Robert Bardolf, esquire of the body to Edward III and Richard II. The manor passed in 1416 to his widows nephew, William Lynde, whose grandson sold it in 1490 to Richard Blount of Iver; it has belonged to his descendants ever since. The present church was begun in the late 13th century by William Bardolf the younger and his wife Juliana de Gournay and continued by Sir Robert and Dame Amice Bardolf at some date between 1381 and 1395, when Sir Robert was buried there. ------------------------------------------ Original Photograph 23 Jun 2013