Albury is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Tiddington-with-Albury, in the

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...

district, in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England, about west of

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 36. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Tiddington to form "Tiddington with Albury".

Manor

Its

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''Aldeberie'', meaning "old fortified place", suggesting that the village's origins are

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

. After the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

granted the manor of Albury to

William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil ( 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Herefo ...

. When the 1st Earl was killed in battle in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

in 1071 his estates in England and Wales passed to his son

Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford (c. 1056 – after 1087), succeeded in 1071 to the earldom of Hereford and the English estate of his father, William Fitz-Osbern. He is known to history for his role in the Revolt of the Earls. Revolt ...

. In 1075 the 2nd Earl rebelled against William I, who suppressed the rebellion and confiscated the Earl's estates. It is not clear to whom the king granted Albury, or who held it until early in the 13th century when it belonged to

William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (died 10 September 1217) (or de Reviers), of Tiverton Castle and Plympton Castle, both in Devon, was feudal baron of Plympton in Devon. Origins He was the son of Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon by hi ...

. It remained in his family until 1293, when his granddaughter

Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon Isabel de Forz (or Isabel de Redvers, Latinized to Isabella de Fortibus; July 1237 – 10 November 1293) was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). On the death of her brother Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl o ...

died. Her estates were divided, and Albury passed to Warin de Lisle. It remained with de Lisle's heirs until 1368, when Robert de Lisle, 3rd Baron Lisle surrendered many manors including Albury to

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

. Thereafter Albury had no

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

overlord.

Parish church

Albury had a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

by the beginning of the 13th century. It had a small

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, two

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

doorways and a 14th-century

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

east window. The church's dedicatee was Saint Helen. In 1828 the church was demolished and in 1830 a new St. Helen's was completed, designed by the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architect

Thomas Rickman Thomas Rickman (8 June 17764 January 1841) was an English architect and architectural antiquary who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival. He is particularly remembered for his ''Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' ...

. The only feature that Rickman retained from the old church was the 12th-century

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

. The architect A. Mardon Mowbray restored the building in 1891. By 1552 the old St. Helen's belfry had two bells. The new St. Helen's also has two, but these were cast in 1686 and the 18th century.

Economic history

The parish was originally farmed in an

open field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acr ...

. Albury's

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

s were

enclosed Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

in stages, and the process was complete by the 17th century. The

Wycombe Railway The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to . History The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the ( 9 & 10 Vict. ...

extension from to was completed and opened in 1864. A station was opened in the parish at Tiddington about west of Albury.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways closed the line and Tiddington railway station in 1963.

Notable people

Richard Wightwick Richard Wightwick (c. 1547–1629) was a Church of England clergyman, co-founder of Pembroke College, Oxford. His name is also spelt Wyghtwicke. Wightwick was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated BA on 2 July 1580, MA on 4 Jul ...

, rector of Albury 1595–1607, later a co-founder of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

"Richard Wightwick"

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

, www.npg.org.uk, accessed 22 February 2023

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District