Garsington 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 southeast 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 ...

in Oxfordshire. "A History of the County of Oxfordshire" provides a detailed history of the parish from 1082. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,689. The village is known for the artistic colony and flamboyant social life of the Bloomsbury Group at

Garsington Manor Garsington Manor, in the village of Garsington, near Oxford, England, is a country house, dating from the 17th century. Its fame derives principally from its owner in the early 20th century, the "legendary Ottoline Morrell, who held court from 19 ...

when it was the home from 1914 to 1928 of Philip and

Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Siegfr ...

, and for the

Garsington Opera Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsingto ...

which was staged here from 1989 until 2010.

Buildings

Garsington Manor

Garsington Manor in Southend was built in the 16th century and remodelled in the 17th century. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. It was the home of Lady

(1873–1938), doyenne of the Bloomsbury group of writers and artists who used to meet at the manor. These included the philosopher

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

, the writers

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

and

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

and the artists Mark Gertler,

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

and

Dora Carrington Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton ...

. Garsington Manor was bought in 1982 by Leonard Ingrams who established the

, an annual open air opera festival which was staged there each summer from 1989 until 2010. The opera moved to

Wormsley Park Wormsley is a private estate of Mark Getty and his family, set in of rolling countryside in the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire (formerly Oxfordshire), England. It is also the home of Garsington Opera. Acquired by Sir Paul Getty in 1985, the e ...

, Buckinghamshire in 2011.

Parish church

The oldest part of the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of Saint Mary includes the

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

, built towards the end of the 12th century in the transitional style between

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 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and Early English. 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 pure Early English and was built or rebuilt in about 1300. St Mary's has

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 ar ...

north and south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

s, which were added in the 14th century and have four- bay arcades. St Mary's was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1849 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect Joseph Clarke. Clarke's alterations included rebuilding the chancel arch to match the north arcade, adding

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s to the south aisle and much remodelling of the north aisle. St Mary's is a

. Inside, next to the entrance door, is a memorial to Garsington's most illustrious inhabitant,

, by

. The west tower 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 six bells. Richard Keene of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

cast the treble bell in 1696. Abraham II

Rudhall of Gloucester Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells. History There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. ...

cast the second bell in 1720. Henry III Bagley of

Chacombe Chacombe (sometimes Chalcombe in the past) is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, about north-east of Banbury. It is bounded to the west by the River Cherwell, to the north by a tributary and to the south-east by the ...

, Northamptonshire cast the third bell in 1733, presumably at his then foundry in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

. John Rudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell in 1788. W&J Taylor cast the fifth bell in 1825, presumably at their then foundry in Oxford. The fourth bell was cast in 1732 but Mears and Stainbank of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

recast it in 1929. The bells were restored in 2013. Thomas Thwaites of Clerkenwell in London built the

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community to ...

for the tower in 1796 at a cost of £172 4s 0d. It is a 30-hour clock and it strikes the hours on the tenor bell. Its dials still have only an hour hand. St Mary's parish is now part of the Benefice of Garsington,

Cuddesdon Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village in South Oxfordshire centred ESE of Oxford. It has the largest Church of England clergy training centre, Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon's nucleated village centre a ...

and

Horspath Horspath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about east of the centre of Oxford, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,378. Archaeology The parish's western boundary largely follows the course of a Roma ...

. The wedding scene in the 2006 film ''

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

'' was filmed at the church.

School

A parish school was built in Garsington in 1840. It was reorganised as a junior school in 1923. It now occupies more modern premises and is a

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 ...

primary school.

Village hall

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 ...

was built in 1911 and given to the village by

Philip Morrell Philip Edward Morrell (4 June 1870 – 5 January 1943) was a British Liberal politician. Background Morrell was the son of Frederic Morrell, a solicitor of Black Hall, Oxford, by his wife Harriette Anne, daughter of the President of St John's ...

. For most of the 20th century it served the needs of the villagers and a number of small improvements were made over the years. It was renovated to bring it up to modern day standards. The building retains its original appearance as well as adding modern-day facilities.

Amenities

Garsington 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 wa ...

: the Three Horseshoes, with the Red Lion and the Plough having closed. Garsington Sports and Social Club is in Denton Lane. It has two men's football teams that play in the Oxfordshire Senior Football League and two youth teams that play in the ''

Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid '' The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 as a succe ...

'' Youth League Garsington

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

Club plays in the Oxfordshire Cricket Association League Division Five. The Garsington Society seeks to expand the knowledge of the history and geography of Garsington and its surrounding areas, and organises talks, walks, and social events. Garsington has a

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

. The next dramatic production by the Garsington Players will be "

When We Are Married ''When We Are Married'' is a comedy by the English dramatist, J. B. Priestley, written in 1934. It was first performed in London at the St. Martin's Theatre, London on 11 October 1938, and transferred to the larger Prince's Theatre in March 1 ...

" in February 2023. The village has an exceptionally rich network of footpaths and bridleways which are maintained by local volunteers. This includes a section of the Oxford Green Belt way. The ''city11'' bus service connects Garsington to Oxford and Watlington. There has never been a railway station. Nearby stations include Oxford, Didcot Parkway, and Thame and Haddenham Parkway.

Residents

In addition to the Bloomsbury Group and the Garsington Opera residents have included historians

John Wheeler-Bennett Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett (13 October 1902 – 9 December 1975) was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of King George VI. He was well known in his lifetime, and his inter ...

, Raymond Dawson and

Russell Meiggs Russell Meiggs (20 October 1902 – 24 June 1989) was a British ancient historian. He did extensive research on the Roman port city of Ostia. Early life and education Meiggs was born at Balham, south London, son of William Herrick Meiggs (1866 ...

, writers

Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

, Adrian Townsend,

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been smuggling consignmen ...

and Janet Bolam, surgeon Edgar Somerville, medical scientist Paul Bolam and mathematician

Roger Heath-Brown David Rodney "Roger" Heath-Brown FRS (born 12 October 1952), is a British mathematician working in the field of analytic number theory. Education He was an undergraduate and graduate student of Trinity College, Cambridge; his research supervi ...

Gallery

File:Garsington OldSchool.jpg, The 1840 building of Garsington parish school. The school now has more modern premises in the parish, and the old building is now a house. File:St Mary's Church, Garsington, interior.jpg, Inside St Mary's parish church File:Garsington PreachingCross.JPG, Garsington

preaching cross A preaching cross is a Christian cross sometimes surmounting a pulpit, which is erected outdoors to designate a preaching place. In Britain and Ireland, many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected. Some of these c ...

has its medieval base and a remnant of its medieval shaft. Upon it are a small 20th century shaft and top. File:Garsington StMary MorrellMonument1938.JPG, Monument in St Mary's parish church to

Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Siegfr ...

, carved by

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Garsington Parish CouncilGarsington Village HallGarsington Voluntary DriversGarsington Good NeighboursGarsington Greatness (Facebook)Garsington Community PlanOxford Green Belt
{{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District Villages in Oxfordshire