To respond to human need by loving service. 

Welcome to St. Mary Magdalene, which is the parish Church for Shippon, near Abingdon. 

A friendly, welcoming church that aims to spread the love, joy and peace of Jesus to all. 

A BRIEF HISTORY AND GUIDE

The earliest mention of Shippon is around 1086 when it is mentioned in the Administrative Lists that formed part of the Domesday Book.  The earliest recorded mention of a church or chapel in Shippon was in 1284.  

 The chapel was certainly not in use in 1658, when a Jury of Enquiry reported that the church of St Helen was insufficient for the people of Abingdon, with the four county villages of Shippon, Dry Sandford, Northcourt and Barton.  

The present church was built at the instigation of the Reverend Nathaniel Dodson, Vicar of the parish of St Helen, Abingdon and designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott with the approval of Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford, and consecrated on 12 December 1855.  

 On 1st September 1932, RAF Abingdon was officially opened.  Subsequently, when the first RAF Chaplain was appointed as Priest in Charge, St Mary’s took on a dual role providing pastoral care and ministry to the village and the RAF Community.  This partnership lasted for 60 years until the departure of the RAF in 1992.  Later that year the base was renamed Dalton Barracks and occupied by the Army. 

To learn more about the history of Shippon and the church click on the