AFTER eight years at the side of villagers during their ups and downs, team vicar the Rev Hilary Campbell is leaving for pastures new.

Mrs Campbell has led the Anglican Parish of Kidlington with Hampton Poyle and will leave for Cropredy, north Oxfordshire, in September.

She has led Kidlington’s Church of St Mary the Virgin and The Church of St John the Baptist, Kidlington, as well as The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Hampton Poyle.

She said: “It has been great, there’s a great variety. It’s lovely to have worked with a variety of churches. It reflects the great mix there is in Kidlington. It is a huge place and there is a lot of diversity.”

The mum-of-two, 54, said: “The most precious thing is being with people in their highs and lows and really seeing people at important moments of their lives. It is a great privilege.”

Despite being the second largest village in England, with 17,500 residents, Mrs Campbell said Kidlington retains a “strong sense of identity”.

A major milestone was a weekend of social events in 2008 to celebrate the 50th birthday of St John’s in Broadway and the opening of the village’s new cemetery in Bicester Road last year.

Mrs Campbell, originally from Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, said: “Attendance at church is quite a different pattern now. People’s lives are much busier now, weekends are very pressured. In churches we have to recognise that.”

This has seen Sunday services moved to the afternoon and a family-focussed monthly “Messy Church” activity session.

She will leave with husband David while sons Christopher, 20, and Anthony, 23, who went to Gosford Hill School, will stay in the village.

Mrs Campbell will leave on September 1 and start at the Benefice of Shires’ Edge, which covers Cropredy and surrounding communities, on October 1.

She said: “I felt it was time for me to look for something new. It will be a new challenge. I’m looking forward to learning about church in a rural setting.”

West Kidlington Primary School headteacher Eugene Symonds said he would be “very sad” to lose her as a governor and visitor.

He said: “She is one of those people who is always looking to give the feeling there is a positive outlook.”

Church warden Margaret Day said: “We have enjoyed very much having Hilary with us, she has come a long way with us.

“She is a very, very warm caring person who has been greatly loved by all members of the congregation.”

The church will advertise to replace Mrs Campbell and hopes the post will be filled by the spring. A new team rector has been appointed and will be announced soon.