Great Bourton is a village about north of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

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 ...

, England. It is the largest settlement 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 Bourton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 614.

Church and chapel

Church of England

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 was originally 13th century. The west wall 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 ...

has a recess containing a small bell cast by Henry I 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 B ...

in 1673. In 1863 the church was almost entirely rebuilt to plans by the architect William White, who added a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

, separate from the church, built over the

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

. It is one of only three such bell towers in Britain to be so sited. All Saints' 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 Shires' Edge along with those of Claydon,

Cropredy Cropredy ( ) is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire. History The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The toponym comes from the Old English words ''cropp'' ...

, Mollington and

Wardington Wardington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northeast of Banbury. The village consists of two parts: Wardington and Upper Wardington. The village is on a stream that rises in Upper Wardington and flows north to join the River ...

Methodist

Great Bourton village hall used to be 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.

History

In the

Battle of Cropredy Bridge The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought on 29 June 1644 near Banbury, Oxfordshire during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Waller and the Parliamentarian army failed to capture King Charles. The site was placed ...

in June 1644, the Parliamentarian General Waller saw that the

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 governme ...

army was strung out from its position on higher ground near Great Bourton and took the decision to order an attack. The Royalists pushed Waller's force back to Great Bourton when it met the Royalist

Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. Earls of Northampton, First Creation (1071) * Waltheof (d. 1076) * Maud, Queen of Scotland (c.1074–1130/31) *Simon II de Senlis (1103–1153) * Simon II ...

's brigade of horse.

Amenities

The Bell Inn at Great Bourton - geograph

Great Bourton has a

pub 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 Bell, that is controlled by

Hook Norton Brewery Hook Norton Brewery is a regional brewery in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England, several miles outside the Cotswold Hills. Founded in 1849, the brewing plant is a traditional Victorian 'tower' brewery in which all the stages of the brewing pr ...

. Great Bourton's only public transport is bus route 502 between Banbury and

Temple Herdewyke Temple Herdewyke is a village in Warwickshire, England, that was built to house staff at Defence Munitions (DM) Kineton. It forms part of the parish of Burton Dassett Burton Dassett is a parish and shrunken medieval village in the Stratfor ...

in Warwickshire. The current operator is

Stagecoach in Warwickshire Stagecoach in WarwickshireCompanies House extract company no 1556 ...

. There is one bus a day on Saturdays.

References

Sources

* *

External links

The Bourtons
{{Authority control Villages in Oxfordshire