Edgcote is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of

Chipping Warden and Edgcote Chipping may refer to: Places England Chipping is a prefix used in a number of place names in England, probably derived from , an Old English word meaning 'market', although the meaning may alternatively derive from (or via) the Medieval English wo ...

, in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is situated on the River Cherwell. The parish was bounded by the river to the north and by one of its tributaries to the east. The village is about north-east of Banbury in neighbouring

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 ...

, and the south-western boundary of the parish formed part of the county boundary. In 2001 the parish had a population of 57.

History

The village's name possibly means, "cottage(s) of the Hwicce", a tribal name. On 1 October 2008 the parish was abolished and merged with

Chipping Warden Chipping Warden is a village in Northamptonshire, England about northeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The parish is bounded to the east and south by the River Cherwell, to the west by the boundary with Oxfordshire and to the north by f ...

to form "Chipping Warden & Edgcote".

Edgcote House

Edgcote House (or Hall) is an 18th-century country house of two storeys plus a basement and a nine

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

frontage. The manor house is built of local ironstone with dressings of fine grey stone. Features include a carved mahogany staircase, and a drawing room decorated in a Chinese style. It is a Grade I listed building. In 1543 the Edgcote estate, which had previously belonged to Anne of Cleves, was bought from the Crown by William Chauncy, MP for Northamptonshire and High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1579. In the October 1642 Charles I abandoned

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

as his temporary headquarters after the battle of

Wem Wem may refer to: * HMS ''Wem'' (1919), a minesweeper of the Royal Navy during World War I *Weem, a village in Perthshire, Scotland * Wem, a small town in Shropshire, England *Wem (musician), hip hop musician WEM may stand for: * County Westmeath, ...

, and made for Oxford/London. ON the journey, Edgcote House was used as headquarters by the army of before the Battle of Edgehill on 23 October, the first major battle of the English Civil War. The poet Mary Leapor worked at Edgcote House at a point in her life, and the poem "Crumble-Hall" was inspired by her time working there. By 1742 the house had descended to Richard Chauncy, a London merchant, who commissioned the architect William Jones to build the present house in 1747–52 to replace a previous building.Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 209 He employed the carpenter Abraham Swan, and the plasterer John Whitehead. Initially the stables were surveyed by

William Smith of Warwick (1705–1747) William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, and rebuilt 1745–7. The London blacksmith Thomas Stephens (d. 1771) made a cast-iron

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

, and the house was furnished in the later 1750s by Vile & Cobb ( William Vile and John Cobb). His son William Henry Chauncy caused the village of Edgcote to be resited to improve his view sometime before 1788. The estate then passed to his unmarried sister Anna Maria Chauncy and from her to Thomas Carter, Richard Chauncy’s great-nephew, and from him to a distant cousin, Julia Frances Aubrey, who was married to William Cartwright. They moved in during 1847 and the Cartwrights remained in possession until 1926, when they were obliged to sell it to the Courage family. In 2005 it bought by businessman David Allen. The park was laid out in the 18th century and features a lake fed by the River Cherwell and the remains of a Roman villa. The house is heated by heat energy extracted from the lake.

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

used the house in its 1995 television adaptation of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

''. The estate may be adversely affected by the proposed

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

high speed railway line.

Parish church

The oldest parts of 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 St. James are the 13th century south doorway and three-

south arcade.Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 208 Inside the church is a series of monuments to the Chauncey family. The oldest are to Toby Chauncey (died 1579) and William Chauncey (died 1585). They are followed by four monuments to 17th and 18th century members of the family carved by the Flemish sculptor John Michael Rysbrack. St. James' has a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of four bells plus a sanctus bell. The sanctus bell was cast in about 1500 by an unidentified

bell-founder Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casti ...

. Bartholomew Atton of

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

cast the oldest bell in the ring in 1592. His successor Robert Atton cast the tenor bell in 1623. Henry I Bagley of Chacombe cast the third bell in 1660 and the treble bell in 1668. The ring is currently unringable. St. James' parish is a member of the

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Culworth with Sulgrave and

Thorpe Mandeville Thorpe Mandeville is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England about northeast of Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire. The hamlet of Lower Thorpe is just north of the village. The village's name means 'Outlying farm/settlem ...

and

with Edgcote and Moreton Pinkney. The Vicarage south of the church is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house of five bays.

References

Sources

* {{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Former civil parishes in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District