Horton-cum-Studley 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 authority ...
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 ...
about northeast of the centre 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 ...
and bordering
Otmoor
Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is about above sea level, and has an area of nearly .
It is encircled by the "Seven Towns" of Otmoor: Beckley, Oxf ...
, and is one of the "Seven Towns" of Otmoor. The
2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 455. A majority of residents in the village work in the Healthcare and Educational Sectors.
Civil parish
The
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of Studley was originally in two parts: one in Oxfordshire and the other in the
Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of
Ashendon
Ashendon is a small village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about nine miles west of Aylesbury and seven miles north of Thame.
The toponym is derived from the Old English for "Hill overgrown with ash trees". The Domesday Bo ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
. Horton was always part of Oxfordshire. Horton and all of Studley, including the Buckinghamshire part, were originally part of the ancient parish of
Beckley. The Buckinghamshire part of Studley became a separate civil parish, but was then transferred to Oxfordshire under the
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...
and the
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844
The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...
. Meanwhile Horton and the Oxfordshire part of Studley had been separated from Beckley to form the civil parish of Horton-cum-Studley. The two parts of Studley were reunited in 1932, when the Studley and Horton-cum-Studley civil parishes were finally merged.
Manors and priory
Horton
Horton'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 ...
is derived from
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''horu'' 'dirt' and ''tūn'' 'settlement, farm, estate', presumably meaning 'farm on muddy soil'. The oldest known record of Horton is from the reign of
Æthelred the Unready
Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...
: a charter of 1005-11 that records its agricultural land as five
hides. However, the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 has no separate entry for Horton
[ as it had been part of the manor of Beckley since before the ]Norman Conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
. Until the Norman conquest of England the manor of Beckley was one of many that belonged to Saxon Wigod
Wigod (also spelt Wigot) was the eleventh-century Saxon thegn or lord of the English town of Wallingford, and a kinsman of Edward the Confessor.
After the Battle of Hastings, during the 1066 Norman invasion of England, William the Conqueror mad ...
, 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 w ...
of Wallingford. Thereafter ownership of Horton followed the same descent as that of Beckley.
After the Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
the Norman baron Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly (also spelt Robert D'Oyley de Liseaux, Robert Doyley, Robert de Oiley, Robèrt d'Oilly, Robert D'Oyley and Roberti De Oilgi) was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman conquest, his invasion of Engla ...
acquired Wigod's estates by marriage and then passed a number of them to his brother-in-arms Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry or d'Ivri or Rog'ive or Roger Perceval (died 1079) was an 11th-century nobleman from Ivry-la-Bataille in Normandy. He was the younger son of Robert de Breval and his wife, Albreda, daughter of Rodolph, Lord of Ivry.
He took part in W ...
. Beckley and Horton became part of the Honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
of St Valery in the 12th century, were held by the Earls of Cornwall
The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne.
Condor of Cornwall
*Condor of Cornwall, ...
in the 13th century, Hugh le Despenser and then The Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...
in the 14th century and 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 15th century. Beckley and Horton passed from Princess Elizabeth ''via'' Sir Walter Mildmay
Sir Walter Mildmay (bef. 1523 – 31 May 1589) was a statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, and founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Origins
He was born at Moulsham in Essex, the fourth and youngest son of Th ...
in 1550 to Sir John Williams, whose descendants were titled Baron Norreys
The title Baron Norreys of Rycote was created in the Peerage of England by writ for Sir Henry Norris in 1572. The 2nd Baron Norreys was created Viscount Thame and Earl of Berkshire, both titles became extinct on his death. After two female heirs i ...
from 1572 and Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his seco ...
from 1682. Beckley and Horton were broken up into lots and sold by Viscount Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon
Montagu Arthur Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon (13 May 1836 – 10 March 1928) was an English peer.
Early life
Montagu Arthur Bertie was born on 13 May 1836 at Hanover Square, Mayfair. He was the eldest of nine children born to Montagu Bertie, 6 ...
, in 1919.[
]
Ash
Before the Norman Conquest a man called Azor son of Toti, who held allegiance to Edith of Wessex
Edith of Wessex ( 1025 – 18 December 1075) was Queen of England from her marriage to Edward the Confessor in 1045 until Edward died in 1066. Unlike most English queens in the 10th and 11th centuries, she was crowned. The principal source on ...
, consort of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
, held the manor of ''Lesa'' or Ash. Azor also had the manors of Iffley
Iffley is a village in a designated Conservation Area in Oxfordshire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill and Donnington, and in proximity to the River Thames (Isis). A nota ...
in Oxfordshire and Lillingstone Lovell in Buckinghamshire, and other Oxfordshire landholdings at Chastleton
Chastleton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England, about northeast of Stow-on-the-Wold. Chastleton is in the extreme northwest of Oxfordshire, on the boundaries with both Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Th ...
and Marsh Baldon
Marsh Baldon is a village and civil parish about southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire. Since 2012 it has been part of the Baldons joint parish council area, sharing a parish council with the adjacent civil parish of Toot Baldon. The 2011 Census ...
. The Domesday Book in 1086 recorded that Roger d'Ivry held the manor, which was assessed at two hides. Ash followed the same descent as Beckley and Horton until 1300, when they were estates of the Honour of St Valery.[ By 1190 the tenants of the Honour of St Valery at Ash were the Ash and De Bosco families.
Between 1190 and 1213 the two families granted land at either Ash or Marlake (see below) to the ]Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
. The Order may have disposed of the land before its dissolution in the 14th century, as the Hundred Rolls The Hundred Rolls are a census of England and parts of what is now Wales taken in the late thirteenth century. Often considered an attempt to produce a second Domesday Book, they are named after the hundreds by which most returns were recorded.
Th ...
for the Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Bullingdon for 1279 do not record any Templar landholding in Beckley parish.[ In 1361 John of Ash ]enfeoffed
In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...
John and Margaret Appleby, the lord and lady of Boarstall
Boarstall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about west of Aylesbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about southeast of the Oxfordshire market town of Bice ...
. In 1365 the Applebys granted Ash to trustees, who in turn enfeoffed the manor to a second set of trustees. In 1389 the latter trustees were licensed to alienate Ash to the Prioress of Studley. John Appleby died in 1371 and Margaret quitclaimed
Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...
her rights in 1391.[
]
Studley
The founding date of 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 ...
Studley Priory is not known, but earliest known record of its existence is from 1176, when Bernard de St Valery granted half a hide of land at Horton to the priory. Studley's toponym is derived from Old English meaning "pasture for horses". The priory's foundation led to the abandonment of Ash in favour of a new hamlet of Studley that grew up next to the priory. At one time the priory had 50 nuns but by 1445 their number had fallen to nine. In 1520 there were still only 10 nuns and the priory to be significantly in debt. In 1530 the debt was £60 and the buildings were in disrepair. Under the Dissolution of the Monasteries Studley Priory 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 November 1539, which sold them off in February 1540. John Croke bought the priory's lands at Studley and Horton.
In 1621 another Sir John Croke sold Studley to George Croke, who was a lawyer and in the 1630s defended John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...
in the ship money
Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs cou ...
case. Sir George died in 1642, leaving his estates to his wife for the remainder of her life, with reversion to their son Thomas and thence to other members of their immediate family. Thomas Croke was a 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 ...
in 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 ...
so Parliament sequestered his estates in 1644, but they were discharged in 1646.[ Sir ]Alexander Croke
Sir Alexander Croke (July 22, 1758 – December 27, 1842) was a British judge, colonial administrator and author influential in Nova Scotia of the early nineteenth century.
Life
Croke was born in Aylesbury, England, to a wealthy family and ...
(1758–1842) succeeded to the estate in 1777. Alexander became a maritime law
Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...
yer and was the senior justice of the vice admiralty court
Vice Admiralty Courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen.
American Colonies
American maritime act ...
s of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
from 1801: a term of office that included the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
against the USA. Sir Alexander also wrote satirical verse, many letters and a genealogy of his family. In 1877 Sir Alexander's younger son John Croke sold Studley to John Henderson. In 1953 Studley was still in his family, with his grandson Captain John Henderson being lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
.[
]
Marlake
Before the English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
the Preceptory
A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition.
Buddhist monastic orders
Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...
of the Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
at Sandford-on-Thames
Sandford-on-Thames, also referred to as simply Sandford, is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley.
Early history
In 108 ...
held land at Marlake. The Order was suppressed in England under Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
and 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 ...
seized all its property. John Croke, who had bought Studley Priory's lands in 1542, bought the former Hospitaller estate at Marlake in 1542. In 1877 the Crokes sold Marlake and Studley to John Henderson.[ Building of the ]country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
called Studley Priory began in the 16th century. The house's plan is irregular, which suggests that parts of the Benedictine priory buildings were absorbed into it. The house had been converted into a hotel by 1953[ but ceased to be so in 2004.
]
Chapels and church
Horton and Studley are more than from the church of their ancient parish of Beckley. There is an isolated record of a chaplain serving Horton in the 13th century, but no subsequent records for about the next 300 years. However, there is a record from 1553 of a chapel at Horton that had clearly been there for some time.[ About 1639 Sir George Croke had the north wing of Studley Priory converted into a chapel. The old village chapel was allowed to fall into disrepair and by 1685 it had fallen down. Villagers worshipped at the new Priory chapel, and the residents of the ]almshouse
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
s (see below) were duty bound to do so or else half of their weekly allowance would be stopped.[
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 Saint Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
was built in 1867, apparently on or close to the site of the former village chapel. This made the Priory chapel unnecessary, so when the Croke family sold Studley to John Henderson in 1877 the chapel was converted into a kitchen and offices.[ The present St Barnabas' parish church was designed by the Gothic Revival architect ]William Butterfield
William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy.
Biography
William Butterfield was born in Lon ...
and built in 1867. It is built of yellow brick relieved by red and blue brick detailing. It has a 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 ...
, 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.
Ove ...
and north 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, parl ...
. St Barnabas' has no tower but there is a west bell-turret with two bells. The stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows are by Alexander Gibbs
Alexander Gibbs & Co. was a British stained glass studio founded in 1858 by Alexander Gibbs when he split off from the family firm founded by his father Isaac Alexander Gibbs in 1848. The studio continued until 1915. It was first located at 38 ...
. Early in the 19th century there were a number of Protestant Nonconformists in Horton and Studley, and some of their homes were licensed for them to worship in. 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 was built in 1878.[
]
Economic and social history
Studley had a windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
by 1539, when it was listed among the estates of the priory that had just been dissolved and sold to John Croke. It was recorded on maps in the 17th and 18th centuries and finally on the parish of Beckley's inclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
maps of 1827–31. Its site is recorded by the name Mill Field, at the end of Mill Lane.[ Sir George Croke established the Studley Almshouse Charity in 1631 by an ]indenture
An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...
that gave it an income from land at Easington, Buckinghamshire
Easington is a hamlet in the civil parish of Chilton, Buckinghamshire, about north of the Oxfordshire market town of Thame. The hamlet is between the villages of Chilton and Long Crendon and consists of around 30 houses.
The toponym is derived ...
. The houses were built in 1639 for four local men over 60 years of age and four local women over 50 "well reputed for religion, and of good character and conversation". A further endowment to the charity was added by Sir Richard Ingoldsby, Lady Elizabeth Ingoldsby and Alexander Croke in 1668. The Otmoor Inclosure Award of 1825 added two acres and eight perches
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
to the charity's endowment. The number of beneficiaries was reduced to two men and two women in 1880.[
In June 1643 during 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 ...
a force of 500 of Prince Rupert's cavalry reconnoitred Horton, unsuccessfully searching for an advancing force under the Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
. A few days later Essex advanced and unsuccessfully attacked Islip
Islip may refer to:
Places England
* Islip, Northamptonshire
*Islip, Oxfordshire
United States
*Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County
** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town
**Central Islip, New York, a hamlet and census-d ...
. After Essex withdrew, a Royalist force from Woodperry returned and drove the sheep off Horton Common.[ By 1819 Horton had a schoolmaster and by 1833 it had two small schools. In 1871 there were still two schools, but one had a charitable endowment and had 47 pupils. In 1891 the larger school came under the Church of England parish and had 59 pupils. It was still open in 1952 but by then had only 20 pupils.][ It has since closed. Horton had a post office in 1954][ but it closed in October 2004.]
Inclosures
A map of 1641 shows that by then inclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
had embraced at least two thirds of the Manor of Studley: . This included only a small proportion of the land around the manor house but a much larger proportion of the land of the former hamlets of Ash and Marlake.[ Studley Mill Field continued to be cultivated under 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 acre ...
. By 1786 Horton had no large inclosures but about 150 small ones covering a total of . A further continued to be worked as common fields. West Farm at Horton was built in the 17th century.[ In 1829 Otmoor was inclosed and some of its land was added to the parish of Beckley, including for Horton and for Studley. In 1831 the parish of Beckley itself was inclosed.][
]
Amenities
Horton-cum-Studley 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 ...
, formerly known as the Kings Arms, now trading as The Otmoor Lodge Hotel Bar Restaurant. It also has a 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 ...
, the Millennium Hall.[ There is a Studley ]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 th ...
and a Horton-cum-Studley Tennis Club. There are regular village events held in the Millennium Hall.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
Horton-cum-Studley
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
Villages in Oxfordshire
Otmoor