Lidstone is a hamlet on the

River Glyme A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

in Oxfordshire, about east of Chipping Norton. The hamlet is in

Enstone Enstone is a village and civil parish in England, about east of Chipping Norton and north-west of Oxford city. The civil parish, one of Oxfordshire's largest, consists of the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone, with the hamlets of Cha ...

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 ...

, about west of Neat Enstone.

Archaeology

In Round Hill Field on a ridge about south of Lidstone is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ke ...

. It is in diameter and high. Originally it would have been substantially higher, and would have been created from spoil dug from a circular quarry trench deep. The trench has become filled in but will have survived as a buried feature. The barrow is the most northerly of a line of three that form a line between Lidstone and the village of

Spelsbury Spelsbury is a village and civil parish about north of Charlbury and about southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village is on a narrow hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwo ...

. It is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. In the middle of the barrow is an

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

triangulation station A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

Manor

By 1279 there was a hide of land at Lidstone that was part of the manor of

Heythrop Heythrop is a village and civil parish just over east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Dunthrop. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 93. History Heythrop had a Norman parish church of Saint Ni ...

Mill

Lidstone had a large

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 ...

on the Glyme. It had the largest-diameter waterwheel in Oxfordshire: an

overshot wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...

in diameter and wide. ''Via'' a pitwheel it drove three pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s. The mill had its own bread oven. The mill was dismantled in 1976 and its machinery taken into storage, but the large iron waterwheel was left in place.

References

Sources

* * * {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub Hamlets in Oxfordshire