The
Church of England parish church of
Saint Mary the Virgin dates from about 1200. Its unusual open-sided bell-tower was added in 1822. The church is noted for its 17th-century
Fettiplace monuments; that of 1686 was carved by
William Bird of
Oxford. St Mary's also has a monument to the officers and men of the
Royal Navy submarine
HMS P514, and especially its commander, Lieutenant W. A. Phillimore, whose parents lived at Swinbrook. In 1942
P514 failed to identify herself to the
Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper . The Canadian ship therefore assumed the submarine to be an enemy vessel and rammed
P514, sinking her with the loss of all hands. In 1926,
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale had Swinbrook House rebuilt north of the village. Four of his six daughters (the "
Mitford sisters") are buried in the parish churchyard:
Nancy,
Unity, and
Diana are buried side by side, while
Pamela is buried northwest of the tower. There is a tablet in the church commemorating their only brother,
Tom, killed in March 1945 in Burma.
Max Mosley, son of Diana, is also buried in the churchyard. Swinbrook was an
ancient parish. In 1932 the parish was merged with
Widford to form a new civil parish called Swinbrook and Widford, subject to some adjustment to the boundaries with the neighbouring parishes of
Shilton and
Asthal. At the 1931 census (the last before the abolition of the parish), Swinbrook had a population of 173. == Amenities ==