Heythrop 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 ...

just over east of

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

. The parish includes 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 depic ...

of Dunthrop. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 93.

History

Heythrop had a

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 ...

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 ...

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

, but the nave has been demolished and only 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. O ...

has been preserved as a mortuary chapel. The chapel's west doorway was the south doorway of the former nave. In 1657 an attempt to merge the Benefices of Enstone and Heythrop was abandoned in the face of local opposition. In 1923 the incumbent of Heythrop ceased to live in the parish and in 1964 it and Enstone were finally merged. In 2001 the Benefice of Enstone and Heythrop merged with that of

Ascott-under-Wychwood Ascott-under-Wychwood is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 560. Toponym The village is one of three named after the hi ...

Chadlington Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village has five neighbourhoods: Brookend, Eastend, Greenend, Millend and Westend. Archaeology There is a bowl barrow about we ...

, and Spelsbury to form the Chase Benefice. Heythrop House in Heythrop Park was built from 1706 onwards by the architect Thomas Archer for

Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, KG, PC (15 July 16601 February 1718) was an English politician who was part of the Immortal Seven group that invited Prince William III of Orange to depose King James II of England James VII and I ...

. It was gutted by fire in 1831 and restored to designs by the architect

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known ...

in 1871 for Albert Brassey. It was a Jesuit college from 1922 until 1969 and a training college for the

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

from 1969 until 1999. Brassey rebuilt Heythrop as a

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

in the 1870s and 1880s. He encouraged the growth of the church congregation such that it outgrew its Norman building. In 1880 he had a new

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 St. Nicholas built by the Gothic Revival architect Sir

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

. The south doorway incorporates 13th century mouldings from the demolished nave of the old church. Albert Brassey had the rectory built at about the same time. It remained in the Brasseys' ownership, and when the incumbent ceased to reside in the parish in 1923 it was renamed the Dower House and let as a private house. Former UK Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

was a pupil at Heythrop Primary School. The Heythrop Zoological Gardens is located near the village.

History

References

Sources and further reading

External links