Shellingford, historically also spelt Shillingford, 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 ...
about south-east of
Faringdon
Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the Rid ...
in the
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway N ...
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 ...
, England. It was part of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
until the
1974 Local Government Act transferred it to Oxfordshire. The
2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 173.
In the 10th century the
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 ...
was spelt ''Scaringaford'' and in the 11th century it was ''Serengeford''. 13th century forms of the name included ''Salingeford, Schalingeford, Shallingford, Sallingford'' and ''Schillingford''. In the 18th century it was recorded as ''Shillingworth''.
The spelling Shillingford has been discontinued to avoid confusion with the village of
Shillingford near
Wallingford, also in Oxfordshire.
History
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames.
The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary.
The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...
held the manor of Shellingford from 931 to 1538. In 1598 the courtier
Sir Henry Neville bought the manor. He installed
John Parkhurst
John Parkhurst (c. 1512 – 2 February 1575) was an English Marian exile and from 1560 the Bishop of Norwich.
Early life
Born about 1512, he was son of George Parkhurst of Guildford, Surrey. He initially attended the Royal Grammar School, Guild ...
as rector in 1602: Parkhurst was later master of
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
, but returned to Shellingford in 1637, and is buried at St Faith's Church. The manor was later held by the Packer family. In 1738
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...
bought it as an investment. It was later held by the Goodlake and Ashbrook families.
[
In 1867, the Goodlakes built a new house to the north of the village, Kitemore House, to replace the Elizabethan manor house south of the church, which was then demolished.][ In 1894, the estate was sold to Sir Alexander Henderson (later Lord Faringdon) of Buscot House. It was used as a military hospital during World War I. In the 1920s, Kitemore House was the home of Sir Alexander's son, Major Harold G. Henderson M.P. Between 1931 and 1957 there was an aerodrome, ]RAF Shellingford
RAF Shellingford was a Royal Air Force station located approximately 4 miles east of the town of Faringdon in Oxfordshire. It occupied land adjacent to the A417 road, between the villages of Shellingford and Stanford-in-the-Vale.
Much of the ...
, between Shellingford and Stanford in the Vale
Stanford in the Vale is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about southeast of Faringdon and northwest of Wantage. It is part of the historic county of Berkshire, however since 1974, it has been administered as a part of Oxfo ...
. A quarry now occupies part of the site.
Parish church
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 Faith
Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques (Latin: Sancta Fides; French: Sainte-Foy; Spanish: Santa Fe) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Chr ...
has a late 12th century 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 ...
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 ...
and 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 ...
.[ The church still has its Norman chancel arch, south door, priest's door and part of the north door. The west tower is an ]Early English 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 ...
addition from the early part of the 13th century.[ In the 14th century][ the chancel was rebuilt with ]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 ...
windows and a Decorated window was inserted in the south wall of the nave. In about 1400 a chapel was added to the north side of the chancel, but it does not survive.[ The tower arch was rebuilt in the 15th century.][ Early in the 16th century][ two four-light ]Perpendicular Gothic
Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...
windows were inserted in the south wall of the nave and another Perpendicular window was inserted in the north wall of the chancel.
The spire and south porch were added in 1625 and three windows in the north wall of the nave were probably added at the same time.[ The spire was destroyed by lightning in 1848][ and rebuilt in 1852. The church contains a number of monuments, including one to William, 2nd ]Viscount Ashbrook
Viscount Ashbrook is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1751 for Captain Henry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow. The title of Baron Castle Durrow, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1733 for ...
(1767–1802) by John Flaxman
John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...
. St Faith's is a Grade I 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 Irel ...
.
The tower seems to have had 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 four bells by the early part of the 20th century.[ The tenor bore the date 1586 but the ]founder
Founder or Founders may refer to:
Places
*Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium
* Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
was unidentified. Edward Neale of Burford
Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds, Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeas ...
cast the treble in 1653. Another bell bore no date[ but may have been cast in about 1599.] Henry III Bagley, who had foundries at 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 ...
and 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 ...
,[ cast the final bell of the four in 1738.][ There is also a Sanctus bell that was cast in 1663. In the 20th century the ring was increased to six, but of the original bells only the Bagley and undated bells survive. Mears & 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 a ...
cast the current tenor in 1920. In 1998 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the present treble and another bell. There is also another bell from the Whitechapel foundry, cast by Thomas II Mears in 1841.[ St Faith's 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 Uffington Uffington is the name of several places:
; England
*Uffington, Lincolnshire
:* Uffington and Barnack railway station
:* Uffington Rural District
*Uffington, Oxfordshire
:* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction)
*Uffington, Shropshire
;Un ...
, Shellingford, Woolstone and Baulking
Baulking or Balking is a village and civil parish about southeast of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 Boundary Changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.
Topography
The parish i ...
.
Gallery
File:Shellingford TimberYardCottages SE.jpg, Timber Yard Cottages, a row of Tudor homes in Shellingford built in the 1560s
File:Shellingford StFaith ChancelSSE.jpg, Part of the south wall of the chancel of St Faith's church, showing the 12th-century Norman priest's door and 14th-century Decorated Gothic windows
References
Sources
*
*
External links
{{Authority control
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
Villages in Oxfordshire