PARISHIONERS have held a special ceremony to celebrate the restoration of a memorial dedicated to a 17th century slave.

St Mary's Church in Kirtlington, near Bicester, has been subject to a number of recent repairs through the Heritage Lottery Fund, including the restoration of a weathered monument dedicated to Thomas, a slave of Sir Robert Dashwood's family.

The family owned most of the village, including the building of the Grade I-listed Palladian mansion Kirtlington Park.

Thomas died in his early 20s in 1691 and, in a rare gesture to his dedication, the Dashwoods had the monument laid in the village to honour him.

Margaret Forey, of St Mary's Church in Kirtlington, said: "Villagers remembered when the inscription on the stone could be read easily, but in recent decades weathering and lichen had made it almost indecipherable.

"The commissioning of a large memorial tablet for a slave is so unusual that the parishioners consulted an expert, Professor Brian Kemp of Reading University, about its preservation [during the restoration works]."

The large memorial tablet sat, until recently, on the north side of St Mary's Church on an outer wall but has now been moved inside.

During the works, which also saw the church roof repaired, the monument was detached from the wall and professionally cleaned.

Ms Forey added: "The stone was found to have been partly sunk in the ground, which had concealed a further inscription stating that the body was interred below the chancel floor – a very prestigious location, making it even more evident that the Dashwoods had valued Thomas highly."

The church wanted to celebrate the restoration of the monument in a fitting way while celebrating the completion of the recent works with a special ceremony.

Parishioners joined together at the church on September 9 for tea and coffee, villager and musician Trevor Burley performed and the Rector of Worminghall the Revd David Kaboleh, who had been assistant priest in Kirtlington 10 years ago previously, was invited to bless the relocated memorial.

After blessing the monument he commended Thomas to God, in a ceremony that villagers described as ‘immensely moving’.