Church of the Holy Rood

The Church of the Holy Rood stands in Ampney Crucis, a village in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire. It is an Anglican parish church with Saxon foundations and some Norman stonework. The building has elements from every century up to a Victorian restoration in 1870. Its tower and nave roof date from the 15th century. The church belongs to the Ampney Park estate and sits within the Diocese of Gloucester. The church’s history appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 and in 13th-century Latin records. Wall paintings from the 14th century survive inside, while a Norman font and a 12th-century piscina add to its architectural interest. Tombs of local nobles from the 16th to 18th centuries line the transepts. A 15th-century cross in the churchyard was hidden during the 17th century and restored in the late 20th century. Visitors find a limestone building with slate roofs arranged in a cross shape. The west tower has three stages, diagonal buttresses and six bells. Inside, the organ dates from the mid-19th century. The churchyard cross, a scheduled monument, stands near the porch. The setting combines gentle Cotswold countryside with a building that has grown across the centuries.