5. Batt Wall Memorial

The Batt War Memorial commemorates Edward Augustine Batt, a notable figure in Witney’s history. In 1823 Edward Augustine Batt opened a house to care for 20 persons suffering from ‘diseases of the mind’. The house was probably 33 High Street, the former Congregational Church. His institution closed its doors just four years after he died. Edward Augustine was also surgeon to Witney’s Union Workhouse on Tower Hill.

In due course the Batt family formed a Trust which gave land for a school to be built in Witney, now the Batt Church of England Primary School. The family also left their imposing house on Market Square known as The Hill, or Batt House, to the rector and churchwardens of Witney. From 1930 it housed the Batt Central School.

This fine memorial was sculpted by Oxfordshire-born Thomas Grimsley (1800-1875) whose workshop was in St Giles in Oxford.  Grimsley also designed three schools in Oxford.

Two stained glass windows in the south transept are also dedicated to the Batt family.