''For people with the surname, see

Filkins (surname) Filkins is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Dexter Filkins (born 1961), American journalist *Grace Filkins (1865–1962), American stage actress *Les Filkins (born 1956), American baseball player *Perry Filkins (born 1998), Amer ...

.'' Filkins 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Filkins and Broughton Poggs, about southwest of Carterton in

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 ...

Church and chapel

Church of England

The

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

architect

G.E. Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford, London, Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Gothic Revival architecture, Vi ...

designed 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 ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, and it was built in 1855–57. The parish is now part 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 Shill Valley and Broadshire.

Methodist

The

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

was dedicated in 1833.

Local government

Filkins was historically a hamlet in the

ancient 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

(and civil parish from 1866) of Broadwell. It became a separate civil parish in 1896, within Witney Rural District. In 1954 the civil parish was merged with the parish of

Broughton Poggs Broughton Poggs is a village in the civil parish of Filkins and Broughton Poggs in West Oxfordshire. Broughton Poggs is southwest of Carterton. Parish church Parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter are early Norman, incl ...

to form the civil parish of Filkins and Broughton Poggs, part of

West Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based. Area The area is mainly rural downland ...

since 1974.

Social and economic history

Swinford Museum occupies a 17th-century cottage in Filkins and stands alongside the former village lock-up. George Swinford founded the museum in 1931 with the help of

Sir Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, he first entered Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful of La ...

. In 2007 the Filkins estate, which Sir John Cripps (son of the post-war Labour minister Sir Stafford Cripps) bequeathed upon his death in 1993, but which had been partly passed over to the

Ernest Cook Trust The Ernest Cook Trust is a large educational charity in England. It was founded in 1952 by the philanthropist Ernest Cook, the grandson of Thomas Cook. Each year the Trustees distribute more than £1.25m in educational grants to benefit children an ...

since then, was fully transferred to the Trust's portfolio. The Filkins Estate is on the county boundary between Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire and includes one farm and a number of cottages, with a small area of commercial units housing the Cotswold Woollen Weavers and Filkins Stone Company.

Amenities

Filkins has a

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 ...

, the Five Alls. The village has an outdoor swimming pool owned by the Centre Trust which was established by Sir Stafford Cripps under the control of the parish council (acting as trustees). The pool, now managed by the Filkins Swimming Club, is open from May until September. Next to it are the village shop, post office and bowls club. A large 18th-century barn is now the premises of Cotswold Woollen Weavers, which set up business there in 1982, and is the last company in the area to uphold the traditions of woollen cloth design and manufacture. Filkins has a theatre club. The former village school is now a pre-school nursery.The Old Station Nursery

References

Sources and further reading

* * *

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire