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Garford is a village and
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 authorit ...
about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded by the
River Ock The River Ock is a small English river which is a tributary of the River Thames. It has as its catchment area the Vale of White Horse, a low-lying and wide valley in south Oxfordshire, and flows into the River Thames, at Abingdon on the reach ...
to the north, by two tributaries of the Ock to the south (Childrey Brook and Nor Brook), and by field boundaries and the road between
Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, England, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the ...
and
West Hanney West Hanney is a village and civil parish about north of Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. Historically West and East Hanney were formerly a single ecclesiastical parish of Hanney. East Hanney was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary cha ...
to the west. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 229.


Archaeology

The course of a Roman road passes through the parish about east of the village.


Manor

Garford'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 ...
evolved from ''Garanford'' in the 10th century to ''Wareford'' in the 11th century before reaching its current form. In 940 Edmund I gave 15 houses at Garford to his
thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...
Wulfric, and in 960 Edmund's son
Edgar the Peaceful Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager followin ...
confirmed the grant. The
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
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 informs ...
held two hides of land at Garford by the time of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Apart from brief interruptions during the reign of William II the Abbey retained Garford until 1538, when it surrendered its lands to
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
in the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
sold Garford in 1576, after which it changed hands a number of times. In 1624 Garford was bought jointly by Elizabeth Craven (''née'' Whitmore), widow of William Craven, by Sir William Whitmore and by Elizabeth's son Thomas Craven. By the time of 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 re ...
Garford was among the estates of William, Baron Craven, who supported the
Royalists 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 ...
. When the Parliamentarians won the civil war the
Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...
's treason trustees confiscated all of the Baron's estates. After the
restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
of the English monarchy Craven's estates were restored to him and in 1664 he was created 1st Earl of Craven. Garford remained among the estates of the Barons Craven until 1821, when it was sold by another William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven.


Chapel

Since at least the 13th century, Garford has been part of the ancient
ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of
Marcham Marcham is a village and civil parish about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,905. The parish includes the hamlets of Cothill east-northeast of the village, and Gozzard's Ford northeast o ...
. The
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
chapel of
Saint Luke Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
dates from the 13th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1880 by Gothic Revival architect
Edwin Dolby Edwin Dolby was an English Victorian architect who practised in Abingdon. His works include the design of Abingdon School. Career According to census records Dolby was born in Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire. By 1869 he working from 2 Bedw ...
. The east window of the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...
is a pair of 13th-century lancets and the south doorway of the
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 ...
is also largely 13th century. There is a 14th- or 15th-century window in the south wall of the nave, and a 16th- or 17th-century window on the south side of the chancel. The chapel's other windows are largely Victorian. The ancient windows seem to occupy roughly the same positions in the rebuilt chapel as they did in the original building. There is a wooden bell-turret with one bell.


Economic history

The Domesday Book records that by 1086 Garford had a
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
. There is a record of Garford having a watermill in the 16th century. The present Venn Mill, on Childrey Brook where the Roman road between
Besselsleigh Besselsleigh or Bessels Leigh is an English village and civil parish about southwest of Oxford. Besselsleigh was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is just off the A420 road between ...
and
Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...
crosses the stream, was built in about 1800 but may occupy the same site as the ancient mill. It is in full working order but for insurance reasons is open to the public only occasionally. Garden Games, a supplier of outdoor play equipment, is based at Chadwick Farm in the west of the parish. 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 ...
of farming prevailed in the parish until the beginning of the 19th century. Unusually,
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
passed two
Inclosure Acts The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...
for Garford: the first taking effect in 1814–15 and the second being passed in 1825. Under an Act of Parliament of 1771, the Besselsleigh
Turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
Trust took over management of the road between
Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
and Wantage and the Roman road between Wantage and Besselsleigh. The road ceased to be a turnpike in 1878. Garden Games
/ref>


References


Sources

* * {{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire