The word timeless is overused, but it is the word that inevitably comes to mind looking out at the rural view from Hanborough's Church of St Peter and St Paul, which reaches the 900th anniversary of its founding this year.

"Down there is a single track road, Pigeon House Lane, which was used on Sundays in Victorian times by Low Church congregation members coming up here in their carriages and by High Church worshippers going in the other direction to Freeland - walking mainly, because it tended to be a class thing," said the rector, David Tyler.

Nowadays the church, with two others, serves a parish combining both the Hanboroughs and Freeland, and the rector lives not next door to it as in former centuries, but in a modern house in Long Hanborough.

Built on a slight rise in Church Hanborough, from which the spire can be seen for miles around, the building has a Norman date: traditionally 1108, although the year 1121, when it was given by the king to the monks of Reading, is the earliest mentioned in documents extant today.

The parish has organised a year of celebration for 2008, aimed at involving as many groups of people connected with the church as possible.

"One of the things that matters most," said David, "is that it is not just 900 years of a building, but 900 years of a community of faith here."

That said, it is a very beautiful and interesting building. The outer shell is Norman - there are still Norman doorways to be seen, and narrow round-topped windows.

Over the main door is a decorative stone feature (properly called a tympanum) said to be modelled on carving at the French abbey of Cluny, for which Henry 1, who originally owned the Manor of Hanborough, had particular affection.

Surrounded by scallops and zigzags, it shows the church's first dedicatee, St Peter, with his keys, the lion lying down with the lamb - also a cock, presumably a reminder of human fallibility.

The carved medieval rood screen and loft, which stretch right across the church, are another of its glories.

"You can still see the original colours - gold, red and green," said David, "and those of a 15th century wall painting in the Lady Chapel, with white and pink roses on a red background."

These are thought either to commemorate the unification of the houses of York and Lancaster, or to represent love and purity in a style typically associated with Mary in the 1400s.

"The church would have been quite a sight, a very bright place, in the Middle Ages, and a real contrast to the drabness of people's lives. There would have been no pews, and it would have had a very different feel. It was a Catholic church, of course.

"The parish was possibly allowed to keep some of its Catholicity later on because of a connection with St John's College, which has been its patron since 1638 and has the power to appoint the rector.

"All the rectors, from 1666-1854, were presidents of St John's - they would have been very remote figures."

The previous patron but one to St John's was a Jane Culpepper, who, for some unrecorded reason sitting strangely with her blameless life, is reputed to haunt the footpath from Church Hanborough to Eynsham, and also a dried-out pond in glebe land belonging to the original Rectory Farmhouse. Villagers called her Old Mother Scalpepper and even strong men refused to go near these places after dark.

The memorial to Jane Culpepper is one of six to have been cleaned and conserved using money raised through an appeal, which took the approach of the 900th anniversary as a focus for much-needed repairs and improvements.

An anonymous gift is funding another example of fine craftsmanship, in memory of a staunch 20th century supporter of St.Peter and St Paul, Helen Gibson.

A cloth to hang in front of the altar on special occasions is being made by the Christ Church Cathedral Embroidery Centre, using gold thread on cream silk. It features a cross and the legend World without End', which was particularly meaningful to her.

"We hope it will be ready for the Patronal Festival - which celebrates our connection with St Peter and St Paul - on June 29. The singing will be led by choristers from St John's and it is one of several events planned for our anniversary year," said David.

"At Candlemas, in early February, there was a service for everyone baptised in the church; and on the Sunday before St Valentine's Day all those who had been married here were invited to come and renew their vows.

"In May, the Friends of St Peter and St Paul have been asked to evensong at St John's. The Friends, by the way, are not all parishioners, or even churchgoers in the religious sense, but people who have an interest in the church - historical for example - and want to help raise funds to secure its future."

On July 5, there will be an event involving many local families - a hog roast, preceded by children from the Manor Church of England Primary School coming into the church to present scenes that reflect work they have been doing on its 900 years of history.

"They have been looking at lots of different aspects, such as what the world was like 900 years ago; the link between the church and the school; and the international spread of the Church of England today," said David.

In September there will be a service led by the Bishop of Oxford, which will include a dramatic performance, and the following month the Bishop of Dorchester will take a confirmation service.

A celebration concert has been organised by the Friends for October 2, featuring the Baroque Chamber Ensemble, Fiori Musicali, and the counter-tenor James Bowman. Tickets can be bought from David.

"The church is not as important to the villages as it was 900 years ago," he reflected at the end of our meeting, "because our society doesn't ask the big questions any more - where do we come from and why are we here? - which would have been on the minds of people coming to church then. But there is still a strong sense of community in Hanborough, and the church remains at its centre."

For further information about the church and the anniversary celebrations call the Rev David Tyler on 01993 88127.