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The Parish of Bix & Assendon places of interest |
Ruins of St James Church
Along the road to the Warburg Nature Reserve many visitors spot the mysterious ruins of what was once the church of the settlement of Bix Brand, noted in the Domesday Survey (1086) as having 10 families.
Despite being much clad in ivy and weed overgrowth, much of the stonework is clearly visible and the whole is now a scheduled ancient monument. St James ceased as a church in 1874 when the outside walls started to bow making it unsafe.
In any event the hamlet of Bix Brand had thinned to virtually nothing whereas the village of Bix in the area near the present church, was thriving in comparison thus self-selecting itself as the proper place for the replacement church.
The Church
ruins remain as consecrated grounds and buildings, its fabric being cared for,
so to speak, by English Heritage since 1992 by means of a grant paid to the
newer church's Rector and Church Council. The spooky atmosphere of the ruins has
endeared it to many film and TV producers.
Unfortunately in 1974 vandals invaded the site and in the early hours indulged in some black magic rituals even to the extent of using bones from the graves they desecrated. Then in 1991 New Age Travellers camped on the graveyard eventually to be moved out by Court Order. Access is now not possible for such trespassers as deep ditches and tree plantings have blocked up entry.
Examination of the architecture indicates it to be originally a tiny Norman Church, its arch is only slight over a metre wide, and built on a Saxon site.