Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village in
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The ...
centred ESE of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. It has the largest
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church record ...
clergy training centre,
Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon's
nucleated village A nucleated village, or clustered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement pattern. It is one of the terms used by geographers and landscape historians to classify settlements. It is most accurate with regard to planned settlements: its ...
centre and about 70 in the hamlets of
Denton and Chippinghurst (
2001 census).
History
Cuddesdon's
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' 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 a proper name of ...
is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
''Cuddes Dune'' meaning "Cudde's Hill" or the "Hill of Cuthwine". When
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
was administered in the
hundreds, Cuddesdon parish was in the
hundred of Bullingdon. Cuddesdon was an
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
linear village
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship (''function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear re ...
along in what is now the High Street, but since the 19th-century
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church record ...
additions on the northern edge of the village and 20th-century residential developments (principally Bishop's Wood and Parkside), it has become a nuclear settlement centred on The Green. Since the 1950s many facilities and businesses in Cuddesdon, have closed, and most have been converted into housing. These include the petrol station, the shop, the school, the mill, the second
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
and various farm buildings. Thus, the village has turned into a
dormitory village.
Site
The parish is bounded by the
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. A tributary of the River Thames, the river runs generally south-westward for about from its source above the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury to the Thames in south-east Oxfordshire.
Course
Thr ...
to the east and southeast, its tributary Cuddesdon Brook to the north, by the road between
Wheatley and
Garsington to the west and by field boundaries to the southwest. The village is on a hill that overlooks
south Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The ...
, northern
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...
, the
Aylesbury Vale in central
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east ...
and a small part of west
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council was ...
. There are views of both the
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England.
The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
and the
North Wessex Downs AONB
The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name ''North Wessex Downs'' is not a traditional one, the area covered being better kno ...
stretching from
Ivinghoe Beacon
Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, England, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills, close to Ivinghoe and Aldbury. Dunstable, Berkhamsted and Tring are nearby.
The Beacon lies within ...
in the east to
Didcot Power Station
Didcot power station (Didcot B Power Station) is an active natural gas power plant that supplies the National Grid. A combined coal and oil power plant, Didcot A, was the first station on the site which opened in 1970 and was demolished betwee ...
in the west.
The village today
Culture and events
A free monthly parish newsletter is combined with social venues and events in the village, such as the annual
Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration list of minor secular observances#November, observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and firewor ...
fireworks, a summer
fête
In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments.
Village fêtes
Village ...
and various groups that meet regularly such as the film club. Most social activities are organised or coordinated by the
Parish Council or its subsidiaries. The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of
All Saints, the Bat and Ball inn, the
Village Hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
, Ripon College Cuddesdon and the farms are economically active.
Public policy
In November 2007 a public consultation was held on the proposed Parish Plan, a strategic document aiming to chart the hopes of the village for twenty years to come. Formal encouragement exists in civil parish and district planning policy to reopen a village shop, as yet unforthcoming.
Ecclesiastical presence
Parish church
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames.
The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary.
The Domesday Book of 1086 inform ...
founded the Church of England
parish church of All Saints in Cuddesdon in about 1180. All Saints' parish belongs to the Aston and Cuddesdon
Deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence ...
of the
Diocese of Oxford
The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains ...
.
Bishop's palace
Cuddesdon Palace was completed by 1634 for
John Bancroft, who was
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his election ...
from 1632 until 1641.
In 1644 during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of reli ...
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
forces burned the palace to render it unusable by the
Parliamentarian forces besieging Oxford.
[ In 1676 John Fell was made Bishop of Oxford and in 1679 he commissioned the complete rebuilding of the palace.][ In 1846 Bishop ]Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.Natural Hi ...
had the chapel of Saints Peter and Paul added to the Palace.[ It was designed by the Gothic Revival architect ]Benjamin Ferrey
Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.
Family
Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christ ...
.[ Successive Bishops of Oxford resided at the palace until ]Thomas Banks Strong
Thomas Banks Strong (24 October 1861 – 8 July 1944) was an English Anglican bishop and theologian. He served as Bishop of Ripon and Oxford. He was also Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and served as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University during ...
retired in 1937.[ For the duration of the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
Queen Anne's Bounty
Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England, and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...
was evacuated from London and occupied the palace.[ Thereafter, The Society of the Salutation of Mary the Virgin occupied the palace from 1946 until 1949.][ In the 1960s the palace was in private use for a few years, but it burnt down before the end of that decade. The bishop's chapel escaped the fire and survives today.
]
Theological college
In 1854 Bishop Wilberforce founded Cuddesdon College on land opposite the Palace to train men to become Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Euro ...
clergy. In 1975 the college merged with Ripon Hall to form Ripon College Cuddesdon. Due to the extent of past and present church connections, the village is also known as the "Holy Hill". It has been suggested that in Cuddesdon "the presence of the Church has been more strongly felt than perhaps anywhere else in England".
Territorial designation
After his retirement in 1991, Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely t ...
, former archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is J ...
, a former vicar
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of Cuddesdon and college principal, was granted a peerage as Baron Runcie of Cuddesdon to remain in the House of Lords.
Notable people
* Eliza Brown, who was an early settler in the Swan River Colony (colonial Western Australia) whose letters to her father, William Bussey, of Cuddesdon, record the hardships of her family and constitute a valuable addition to early accounts of the colony, describing it in its second decade of existence. She also accompanied an exploration to Champion Bay in 1851, her account of the journey being published.
*Sir Edward Loughlin O'Malley, former Attorney General of Hong Kong
The Secretary for Justice () is the head of the Department of Justice (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Ko ...
, Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements and Chief Judge of the British Supreme Consular Court at Constantinople, purchased property in what had been Denton in 1892. He died at his residence
Denton House
and was buried in Cuddesdon in 1932.A History of the County of Oxford Vol 5
and http://www.bernieworld.net/Cemeteries/Murrisk/Murrisk%20Cemetery.htm
See also
* Chippinghurst Manor
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
{{authority control
Villages in Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire District