Stonesfield 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 north of
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 ...
in Oxfordshire, and about 10 miles (17 km) north-west 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 ...
. The village is on the crest of an
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to 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 wate ...
at
Glympton
Glympton is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about north of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 80. The village and church are owned by the Glympton Park estate.
History
Grim's Ditch in th ...
and
Wootton about to the north-east. South of Stonesfield, below the escarpment, is the
River Evenlode
The River Evenlode is a river in England which is a tributary of the Thames in Oxfordshire. It rises near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold Hills and flows south-east passing near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury, Bladon, and Cassing ...
which touches the southern edge of the parish. At the centre of Stonesfield stands the 13th-century church of
St James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
as well as a
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
chapel,
Stonesfield Methodist Church
Stonesfield is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about north of Witney in Oxfordshire, and about 10 miles (17 km) north-west of Oxford. The village is on the crest of an escarpment. The parish extends mostly north and ...
, slightly further west. The village is known for
Stonesfield slate
Stonesfield is a village and civil parish about north of Witney in Oxfordshire, and about 10 miles (17 km) north-west of Oxford. The village is on the crest of an escarpment. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, ...
, a form of Cotswold stone mined particularly as a roofing stone and also a rich source of fossils. The architecture in Stonesfield features many old Cotswold stone properties roofed with locally mined slate along with some late 20th-century buildings and several properties under construction. The
2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,527.
Literature
Poetry
Dr Romola Parish, an academic, lawyer, artist, and poet who studied Creative Writing at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
has written two poems about Stonesfield during her time as poet in residence at
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...
, working as part of the Oxfordshire Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) project. Both poems are from the collection ''In Polygonia'' and were both published in The Stonesfield Slate. The first was published in April 2018 and was simply called ''‘Stonesfield’'' while the second was published in March 2020 on the back page of issue 500 of The Stonesfield Slate and had the title ''‘Stuntesfeld’''.
Toponym
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 records Stonesfield as ''Stunsfeld'', meaning "fool's field". This was because of the stony soil in the area, so 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 ...
's mutation is most appropriate. Thomas Hearne used the spelling "Stunsfield" in 1712 and Akerman spelt it ''"Stuntesfield"'' in 1854.
Geology
![Megalosaurus display](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Megalosaurus_display.JPG)
Stonesfield is on the
Taynton Limestone Formation
The Taynton LimestoneWeishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 5 ...
, a type of Cotswold stone that until the 20th century was mined as a roofing stone called Stonesfield slate. It is common on roofs of older buildings in the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
and Oxfordshire. Many of the older buildings of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
have Stonesfield slate roofs. The mines were also one of Britain's richest sources of
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
fossils. The first fossil bones to be identified as those of a dinosaur were found early in the 19th century near Stonesfield. They are part of the skeleton of a
bipedal
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' ...
carnivore, and in 1824 the pioneering
palaeontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
William Buckland
William Buckland Doctor of Divinity, DD, Royal Society, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and paleontology, palaeontologist.
Buckland wrote the first full ...
named it ''
Megalosaurus
''Megalosaurus'' (meaning "great lizard", from Greek , ', meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and , ', meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period (Bathonian stage, 166 million years a ...
''. The bones are now displayed in the
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...
. Other reptiles found at Stonesfield include the crocodile ''
Steneosaurus
''Steneosaurus'' (from el, στενός , 'narrow' and el, σαῦρος , 'lizard') is a dubious genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the Middle or Late Jurassic (Callovian or early Oxfordian) of France. The genus has been used as a was ...
'',
pterosaur
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...
''
Rhamphocephalus'' and the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
of the
theropod
Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
genus ''
Iliosuchus
''Iliosuchus'' (meaning "crocodile hipped") is a genus of theropod dinosaur known from Bathonian–age (168.3 – 166.1 mya) rocks of England. It was perhaps long.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2008) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encycloped ...
''.
Also found here was the type specimen of the
quadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...
''
Stereognathus
''Stereognathus'' is an extinct genus of tritylodontid cynodonts from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom. There is a single named species: ''S. ooliticus'', named after the Great Oolite deposits of England. A second species, ''S. hebridic ...
''
[ belonging to the ]clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
of animals called cynodont
The cynodonts () (clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety ...
s, which were more like mammals than reptiles.
Archaeology
The course of Akeman Street
Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west.
Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mode ...
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
forms part of the south-eastern boundary of the parish. In a field just east of the village is the site of a Roman villa
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Typology and distribution
Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...
that was very close to the Roman road. A tenant farmer, George Handes (or Hannes), found the villa in 1712 when his plough revealed the remains of a Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
pavement dating from the 3rd or 4th century AD. One of its panels showed the Roman god Bacchus riding a panther. Handes' landlord, Richard Fowler of Great Barrington, Gloucestershire, did not welcome the discovery and he quarrelled with Handes over any profit to be had from excavating and displaying the pavement. The pavement immediately attracted the interest of the Oxford academic Thomas Hearne, soon followed by Bernard Gardiner
Bernard Gardiner (baptised 25 September 1668 – 22 April 1726) was an academic at the University of Oxford, serving as Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, and also as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.
Life
Gardiner was the son of Sir Wil ...
. However, in 1724 the pioneering archaeologist William Stukeley
William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...
reported that Handes had destroyed the pavement as a result of the dispute with Fowler. Nevertheless, in 1780 the antiquarian Daines Barrington
Daines Barrington, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (1727/2814 March 1800) was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist. He was one of the correspondents to whom Gilbert White wrote extensively on natur ...
reported that much of the room and pavement found in 1712 still survived and a second, smaller room with a tesselated floor was being excavated. At the same time parts of the villa's baths were also excavated. In 1789 Richard Gough
Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...
reported in his new edition of William Camden
William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...
's ''Britannia'' that much of the pavement had been destroyed.
In 1801 Stonesfield's common land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
s were enclosed
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 ...
and the division of land caused further damage to the remains of the villa. In 1813 the antiquarian James Brewer reported in the Oxfordshire volume of his ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' that only fragments of the pavement found in 1712 had survived destruction. In 1826 the Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...
acquired hypocaust
A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
flue-tiles from the site and the base of a pillar that may also be from the hypocaust. In 1836 a small coin from the reign of the 4th-century Emperor Valentinian was found. In 1858 a visitor called Akerman learnt that the remains of the villa had been totally destroyed. During the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
aerial archaeology
Aerial archaeology is the study of archaeological remains by examining them from a higher altitude. In present day, this is usually achieved by satellite images or through the use of drones.
Details
Aerial Archaeology involves interpretation an ...
discovered a number of Roman and other archaeological sites in this part of Oxfordshire. However, despite repeated attempts in different seasons and under different crop conditions, aerial archaeology has found no surviving trace of the villa at Stonesfield. About south of Stonesfield, on the other side of the River Evenlode and in the next parish, the remains of North Leigh Roman Villa
North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about north of the hamlet of East End in North Leigh civil parish in Oxfordshire. It is a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public. ...
survive in the care of English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
Church and chapels
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 St James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
was built in the 13th century. Surviving Early English features from that period include 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.
Ove ...
arch, north chapel, south 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 ...
, arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
and piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...
and most of the west tower. 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 ...
remodelling in the 14th century includes the piscina and south windows of the chancel, the north window and west arch of the north chapel and the east window of the south aisle. The octagonal font is also 14th-century. In the 15th century the west tower was increased in height.
Between the chancel and north chapel is a screen that is partly 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 ...
. The Perpendicular Gothic east window in the chancel is 15th-century. Fragments of 15th-century 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 ...
survive in the window, including a figure that has a 14th-century head and may represent Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
, and symbols of the evangelists St John and St Mark
Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...
. In the west window of the west tower is late-15th-century stained glass of four family coats of arms. In one of the south windows of the chancel is 16th-century stained glass of two coats of arms: one of a manorial family and the other of the Worshipful Company of Mercers
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...
. There is also mid-16th-century stained glass of two family coats of arms in one of the 17th-century south windows of the clerestory
In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
. The Jacobean pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
was made in 1629.
In 1743 a clock was installed in the church. It was said to have been made for a local manor house in 1543, and transferred to the church after the house was demolished. The clock has since been moved from Stonesfield, rebuilt, and installed at Judd's Garage at Wootton. In 1825 the north aisle was greatly enlarged,[ opening directly into the nave without an arcade. This greatly changed the interior of the church, and in the 20th century the architectural historians Jennifer Sherwood and Sir ]Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
condemned the change as "lunatic". Other 19th-century changes include the addition of the south porch, possibly during a restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
in 1876. The vestry was added in 1956. The church is a Grade II* 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 ...
[ St James' 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 Stonesfield with Combe Longa.
Methodist
Stonesfield Methodist Church is a Wesleyan chapel with capacity for 100 people, located at the junction of Boot Street and High Street.
The current church was first opened for worship in July 1867 and still remains in use today. The current Reverend is Rev Rose Westwood, Witney and Farringdon Circuit Superintendent and Minister for Long Hanborough, Charlbury, Stonesfield, and Sutton Churches.
The church contains a four and a half octave single keyboard organ with foot pedals and seven stops. It bears two plaques recording two last members who helped arrange for its purchase and installation; both plaques are dedicated to the Glory of God 30 April 1966.
Economic and social history
For centuries the parish had one main open field
''Open Field'' is the debut album by the Swedish solo act Taken By Trees. It is the first studio album to be released by Victoria Bergsman after shedding her duties as the lead singer of The Concretes. It was released on June 18, 2007 on Rough T ...
for arable farming: Home Field, which was east of the village. Three others, Church Field, Callowe, and Jenner's Sarts, were much smaller, and an early 17th-century survey records that not every farmer had strips in Church Field. In 1232 the parish almost doubled in size by acquiring King's Wood, a nearby detached part of Bloxham
Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire several miles from the Cotswolds, about southwest of Banbury. It is on the edge of a valley and overlooked by Hobb Hill. The village is on the A361 road. The 2011 Census recorded ...
parish. It was in this wood that people from Stonesfield created Callowe by clearing woodland, a process called assarting
Assarting is the act of clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English land law, it was illegal to assart any part of a royal forest without permission. This was the greatest trespass that could be committed in a ...
. By the time of 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 ...
in the 1270s, every tenant in Stonesfield held assarted land.
By the first decade of the 17th century Stonesfield had at least four fields. Church Field is taken to be ancient like Home Field, but Jenner's Sarts was created by felling in Gerner's Wood. It is not clear whether this field is the same as that called Gannett's Sarte in another source. By 1792 very little of Stonesfield's common land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
had been enclosed
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 ...
, and most of it was still worked by arable strip farming
Strip cropping is a method of farming which involves cultivating a field partitioned into long, narrow strips which are alternated in a crop rotation system. It is used when a slope is too steep or when there is no alternative method of preventin ...
. By 1797 most of this had been enclosed and converted to pasture. Some common land remained in the parts of the parish closest to the village, but this was enclosed in a land award of 1804.
Amenities
Public houses
Over the years Stonesfield has had between seven and ten pubs; however, since 2020 the village no longer has any active pubs or restaurants.
The White Horse
The White Horse, Stonesfield's final pub, was at the top of the village green on The Ridings. The pub had served the community since its opening in 1876. Previously called the White Lion, a man named John Lardner held its licence from 1847 and resided in one of the three cottages making up the pub's buildings. Following John's death in September 1865 the licence was transferred to his son, Henry Lardner, in October 1865. This was the first mention of the name 'White Horse'. The White Horse was sold at auction after it was advertised on 28 October 1876. The listing had the description: 'A stone-built and slated free public house, called or known by the name of "The White Horse," situate in the village of Stonesfield, and containing 2 front rooms, tap room, pantry, scullery, cellar 3 bed rooms, and 1 attic; together with the 2 Cottages adjoining (but unoccupied). Detached are a Brew-house, large Shop with extensive cellarage underneath, Stable, Barn, Wagon Hovel, Cow Shed, Poultry Pen, Piggery, and Cattle Yard; together with capital Garden Ground at the back and in the front of the house.
The Outgoings are Quit Rents amounting to 1s. yearly.'. From 1876 to 1907 various landlords took on the role of running the pub until the licence was passed on to the Oliver family. The family ran it from 1907 under Edward Oliver until 1962 under Minnie Oliver. The ''Witney Gazette'' referenced Vivian and Emily Miles' retirement from the pub's ownership in June 1977. During the 1980s Nigel Bishop ran the White Horse. During this period, much like Sturdy's Castle on the Banbury Road (A4260) and the King's Head in the centre of Woodstock, the White Horse Inn became a 'Spud Pub'. After a period between 2001 and 2005 of the pub being shut, it was bought by a Londoner called Richard Starowki. Following restoration he reopened The White Horse in 2006. Three years later, in 2009, John Lloyd bought the pub from Richard. During the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
in England, the pub was forced to close and never reopened. The owner, John Lloyd, listed it for sale that July. Local residents formed a community benefit society
An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules.
The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...
to attempt to raise money to save the pub via a shared ownership concept. £430,000 was eventually raised. Despite this, a private sale took place in early 2021. The new owner says he plans to reopen the pub; however, concerns have arisen from his background as a property developer.
The Black Head
Originally named The Black Boy, The Black Head was a pub on Church Street. The pub burnt down in around 1850 during which time Thomas Stewart had ownership. This was the cause of the name change to The Black Head when it was rebuilt soon afterwards, the name sticking until the pub ceased trading in 2010. During the 21st century the pub was owned by the Nomura Bank of Japan, owner of the Wellington Pub Company. Its latest owner applied in 2012 and 2014 for planning permission to turn the Black Head into a private house. The building is now a private residence.
The Chequers
The Chequers is another pub in the village that is now a private residence. It was on the south of Laughton's Hill and was allegedly a popular pub with entertainers travelling through Stonesfield. The Chequers was open from 1753 until 1847.
The Malster and Shovel
The Malster & Shovel, on High Street, was open from 1831 to 1939 and is now also a private residence.
The Marlborough Arms
A public house which now forms part of Prospect Villa, The Marlborough Arms, opened on the Woodstock Road in 1838 and served customers until 1875.
The Rose and Crown
The Rose & Crown also previously stood on the High Street; however, it was demolished in 1958 to make way for a new school playground and, 34 years later, five low cost houses were erected there.
The Swan Inn
The Swan Inn is thought to have been up the Tewer and served from around 1865 until 1877, although evidence is limited especially compared to the other Stonesfield pubs.
The Churchill Arms
The Churchill Arms is another public house with limited information regarding its details. The ''Oxford Journal
The ''Oxford Journal'' was a free newspaper distributed throughout the city of Oxford in the county of Oxfordshire, UK. It was published under licence by Taylor Newspapers Ltd (who also publish other free newspapers including the ''Basingstoke ...
'' mentioned the pub in 1826 and 1828 regarding the auction of an 'estate at Stonesfield'.
The Boot Inn
The Boot Inn was also among Stonesfield's previous pubs. Mr Vivian Miles and his wife, Emily, ran the pub from 1952 until 1962 before taking ownership of the White Horse Inn up the road for a further 15 years.
The Pick and Hammer
The Pick and Hammer pub is said to have been at the bottom of Well Lane. Records are also limited in regard to this pub; however, the cottage gained notoriety in the 1990s from a police incident involving a search for the body of a murdered woman. Michael Morton, a millionaire and architect by trade, was jailed for seven years in 1997 following his conviction of the murder of Gracia, his 40-year-old wife.
Other amenities
Village hall and Stonesfield Sports and Social Club
Stonesfield Village Hall is at the end of Field Close, next to the library, play park, and football pitch. Stonesfield Sports & Social Club opened on 23 July 1995 after 10 years of fundraising £65,000 for an extension to the village hall. The Main Hall can accommodate up to 200 people. The community hall contains a stage, small 50-capacity club room, kitchen and has a car-parking area outside. Stonesfield Parish Council meetings are regularly held at the village hall. The library next door, Stonesfield Library, is a small community library run by Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...
and supported by the Friends of Stonesfield Library (FoSL).
Sports pitch and playground
The adjacent sports pitch accommodates cricket and football matches as well as three tennis courts in the far north corner. This is the home ground of Stonesfield Strikers F.C., a youth football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club with a number of mixed-sex and girls-only teams.[Stonesfield Strikers FC](_blank)
/ref> The club is FA Charter Standard
The FA's Charter Standard Award recognises and rewards high quality of levels of provision in club, league and schools football. There are three levels of FA Charter Standard Award for organisations to recognise the different standards. The entr ...
and is affiliated with Oxfordshire FA, boasting teams in all local leagues. They also fundraise for the Mickey Lewis
Michael Lewis (15 February 1965 – 5 March 2021) was an English professional footballer and manager who played for West Bromwich Albion, Derby County and Oxford United. From October 1999 to February 2000 and then again from January to March 201 ...
Memorial Fund in memory of the club mentor and coach.
There is also a small playground, Stonesfield Play Park, next to the library and sports pitch. The playground is fully grassed and has equipment such as three slides, five swings, and a zip line on a small mound.
Stonesfield Tennis Club is a community tennis club which was established more than 50 years ago. The club's relatively small, friendly group of members play on the aforementioned tennis courts on the sports pitch, which were re-laid in 2018.
Stonesfield Cricket Club, also known as Stonesfield CC, are a community cricket club which play on Stonesfield's sports field each season. The club has a 1st XI, 2nd XI, under 15, under 13, and indoor team. Stonesfield CC beat East & West Hendred in 2005 to win the Telegraph Cup. The 2nd XI also won the Keith Crump Centenary Cup by beating Hook Norton 2nd XI in 2007's final.
Village shop
Stonesfield's village shop, Suriya Express, is located in Pendle Court in the centre of the village and is a Best-one
Best-one is a symbol group (a type of retail franchise) in the United Kingdom and Jersey, Channel Islands. The franchise has over 600 shops throughout the United Kingdom. Most shops are owned on a franchise basis and most stock is sourced through ...
store. It was previously known as Amlu's General Store, from the Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
word ‘Amlu’, meaning ‘darling’. The shop was run by Sri Vairamuthu and his family for over ten years before they moved to London. During this time the shop was voted best Oxfordshire village shop in 2006. The shop is now run by Mathon Sabapathy and his wife. The shop now contains a Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
post office following its move from next to St James the Great Church. Adjacent to the shop is a hairdresser called Salon Copenhagen.
Primary school
Stonesfield Primary School is a community primary school located in the centre of the village on the High Street. It caters for pupils age 4 to 11 from the ward of Stonesfield and Tackley
Tackley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England. It is about west of Bicester and north of Kidlington. The village consists of two neighbourhoods: Tackley itself, and Nethercot ...
and has capacity for 150 students. Its current headteacher is Ben Tevail and there are currently over 100 students. The approximately sports field and playground behind the school, backing onto Peaks Lane, form an iconic part of the village.
Garage
Stonesfield Garage is situated on The Ridings in the north east of the village, near to The White Horse Inn. The garage opened in December 2015, selling, servicing, and repairing vehicles. The garage specialises in Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
and Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
but offer services for a wide range of vehicles.
St James’ Centre
Found on the High Street opposite Stonesfield Primary School and behind St James the Great Church, The St James’ Centre, previously the village school, is used for exhibitions, workshops, education classes for adults, meetings, family gatherings, fundraising events and children’s parties. The centre belongs to Stonesfield Parish Church and sits on the edge of the church’s grounds. The modernised centre includes a main hall, kitchen, sitting room, patio, 3 smaller rooms, garden, and a car park.
Callow Farm Shop
Callow Farm Shop was a farm shop and Cotswold
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Juras ...
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 ...
located on Callow Farm, Stonesfield's northernmost farm located on Stonesfield Riding, from the B4437. The farm shop was run by Dave Holloway and offered a range of produce ranging from home reared meat to freshly harvested vegetables however it was well known for its free range
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day.
On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...
Bronze Christmas Turkeys which are still sold every Christmas. The farm shop permanently closed on 30 April 2015 mainly due to financial pressures. The holiday accommodation remains functional with Laughton's Retreat sleeping 4 guests and Harvest Barn sleeping 12.
Allotments
Stonesfield Allotment Association, chaired by Jon Gordon, controls the allotments within the village. Churchfield Allotment is an allotment in the south of Stonesfield extending down into Stonesfield Common. The allotment's plot is about in length by in width. Having raised over £3000, in February 2019 the allotment holders helped to instal the infrastructure needed for four new water troughs to be installed to supply the allotment with fresh water via the Thames Water
Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltshir ...
network. The second, slightly smaller allotment plot is the Woodstock Road site located in the north east reaches of Stonesfield, surrounded by fields.
1st Stonesfield Scouts
1st Stonesfield Scouts are a Beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
, Cubs and Scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
group running in Stonesfield since 1948. The group caters for local children between the ages of 6 and 14 and has over 100 members with some getting put on a waiting list due to high demand. The Stonesfield Scout Hut, known as Andy's Den, was in Stonesfield Common’s woods at Stockey Bottom and could be found by taking a path off Church Fields opposite St James the Great Graveyard in the south west of Stonesfield. The scout hut was originally temporary wartime accommodation at RAF Bicester
Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1916, this military airfield is notable as the location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page H ...
. In 1958 it was dismantled and transported via lorry to its new location. The site was demolished and cleared in late 2019 due to factors such as asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
related health concerns, rodent infestations, and inadequate facilities. The group now aim to build a new Outdoor Education and Environmental Wellbeing Centre, fundraising for a target of £175,000.
The ''Stonesfield Slate''
The ''Stonesfield Slate'', often known simply as the ''Slate'', is Stonesfield's monthly village magazine named after the famous slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
found in the village. It is produced and delivered by volunteers. All residents of the village have the option of being delivered a copy every month for free although physical copies are also available at the village shop and library and a digital archive of all issues can be found on Stonesfield's official Parish Council website. The Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, who believe the Slate to be one of the longest running local magazines, keeps copies of the publication for its archive.
The ''Slate'' was founded in December 1976 by Gordon Rudlin who wanted a newsletter which gave details about village events as he kept hearing about things after they had taken place. There have been four publishers since 2020. Richard and Dale Morris took over from Gordon in January 1998 and held the publisher role for the next seven years, bringing the publication fully into the digital age. Jenny and Simon Haviland were presented with a framed Stonesfield slate on 29 February 2020 to celebrate the 500th issue of the publication and recognise their efforts as publishers of the magazine since 2004. In response to the Havilands stepping down, Diane and Paul Bates took over as publishers from January 2020. The front page of each issue formerly had the words "With or without offence to friends or foes We sketch your world exactly as it goes." Since the personal computer hadn't been invented yet, the ''Slate'' was originally typed on a mimeograph
A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...
stencil on a manual typewriter. To get the project going, Rudlin asked the Village Hall committee and various village residents for sponsorship and to volunteer as editors, typists, printers and deliverers. For many years Rachel Sherlaw Johnson's illustrations were included in small otherwise empty spaces in each issue of the magazine. On 15 June 1990 the publication won a certificate of merit in the Oxfordshire Village Ventures Competition 1988–89. The ''Slate'' had a full page photographic cover for the first time to celebrate the start of the new millennium. It was by luck that it happened to snow the day of the deadline for that issue. January 2009 is the only other time a photographic cover has been used.
Other
There was previously a skittle alley at the top of Pond Hill on The Ridings, next to The White Horse pub. Its owner, John Lloyd, received opposition to his plans to turn it into a house next to the pub which he also owned. The skittle alley is no longer present.
Stonesfield also has a 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 ...
with meetings being held monthly in Stonesfield Village Hall.
Transport
Train
The nearest railway station, Finstock railway station
Finstock railway station serves the village of Finstock and the hamlet of Fawler in Oxfordshire, England. It is some distance from Finstock itself, being situated to the north-east of Charlbury Road (the present B4022), which crosses the line ...
, is away in the nearby village of Finstock
Finstock is a village and civil parish about south of Charlbury in Oxfordshire, England.
The parish is bounded to the northeast by the River Evenlode, to the southeast partly by the course of Akeman Street Roman road, and on other sides by fi ...
on the Cotswold Line
The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.
History Early years
The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.
...
. There is an alternative train service to London from Oxford Parkway
Oxford Parkway railway station is a railway station at Water Eaton, Oxfordshire, on the Oxford–Bicester line. Full regular weekday service began on Monday 26 October 2015, although the first passengers travelled the previous day on a Sunday t ...
on Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Chiltern Railw ...
.
Bus
Stonesfield has four main bus stops: Combe Road, Prospect Close, Boot Street, and Green which are all used by Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
S3 gold and 7 gold buses as well as The Villager V26 bus. The S3 and 7 provide the hourly bus service between Charlbury
Charlbury () is a town and civil parish in the Evenlode
Evenlode is a village and civil parish ( ONS Code 23UC051) in the Cotswold District of eastern Gloucestershire in England.
Evenlode is bordered by the Gloucestershire parishes of More ...
, Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
and 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 ...
which serves Stonesfield. Worths' Coaches of 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 ...
operated the route from the 1920s until 2004, when Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...
awarded the contract to Stagecoach in Oxfordshire
Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoach ...
. The Villager community bus service operates the V26 route between Oddington 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 ...
via Stonesfield. The V26 bus operates on a Monday, Tuesday and Friday only and departs from Stonesfield once in the morning, returning later in the day in the early afternoon.
Other
Stonesfield Voluntary Transport Scheme uses volunteer drivers to allow residents to get to medical facilities such as Woodstock Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe, an 18th-century physici ...
, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) is an internationally renowned orthopaedic hospital, with strong affiliations to the University of Oxford. It provides routine and specialist orthopaedic surgery, plastic surgery and rheumatology services t ...
in 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 Horton General Hospital
The Horton General Hospital is a National Health Service hospital located on the Oxford Road, in the Calthorpe ward of Banbury. It is managed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
History Pre-1948
The earliest part of the hospita ...
in 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 ...
free of charge.
Stonesfield is on the Oxfordshire Way
The Oxfordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Oxfordshire, England, with 6 miles in Gloucestershire and very short sections in Buckinghamshire. The path links with the Heart of England Way and the Thames Path.
The path runs for from Bourton ...
long-distance footpath, which runs for from Bourton-on-the-Water
Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...
to Henley
Henley may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Henley, Dorset, a location
* Henley, Gloucestershire, a location
* Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England
** Henley (UK Parliament constituency)
** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...
. The Oxfordshire Cotswolds' Step into the Cotswolds walk three is a route through Combe
A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...
and Blenheim Great Park, starting and ending in Stonesfield. Stonesfield also features in the AA’s rated trips with a 1.5-hour long walk through the village and south west of the parish down to the River Evenlode
The River Evenlode is a river in England which is a tributary of the Thames in Oxfordshire. It rises near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold Hills and flows south-east passing near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury, Bladon, and Cassing ...
. Oaklands Farm Airstrip lies in a field on the outer south west regions of Stonesfield. It's a 400-metre long, 12-metre wide, grass, private airstrip in one of Oaklands Farm's crop fields. The airstrip is thought to have featured in a flight sequence in the 2009 British film 31 North 62 East
''31 North 62 East'' is an independent psychological thriller film released in September 2009. The title refers to a point in south-western Afghanistan near Zaranj and the Iranian border.
It was written by brothers Leofwine Loraine and Tristan ...
.
Notable people
* Ed Atkins, an artist and teacher at Goldsmiths College London, famous for his multimedia poetry and video installations, was raised in Stonesfield.
* Rev. Walter Brown, rector of Handborough and St James the Great Church in Stonesfield, chaplain and librarian at Blenheim, held two residences but resided in Stonesfield in the early 1800s. Walter is credited with repairing the paving and the west end of 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.
Ove ...
of St James the Great Church. He privately educated British army officer Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer.
* Chris Davies, artist and runner-up in series 3 of the BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
TV programme and competition The Big Painting Challenge
''The Big Painting Challenge'' is a television programme first broadcast on BBC One on 22 February 2015. It is a contest in the style of ''The Great British Bake Off'' but with the craft of painting rather than baking.
Series 1 (2015)
Una Stubb ...
, lives in the village.
* Basil Eastwood
Basil Stephen Talbot Eastwood Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (born 4 March 1944) is a retired British diplomat.
Early life
Eastwood was educated at Eton College (from 1957 until 1962) and Merton College, Oxford, where he studied history, a ...
, British Ambassador (Syria 1996–2000; Switzerland 2001–2004), lived in Stonesfield until retirement, and founded the charity Cecily's Fund in the village. A Cecily's Day picnic is held every year on the lawns of Stonesfield Manor.
* Rupert Friend
Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...
, actor, director, screenwriter and producer. Raised in Stonesfield and good friends with Ed Atkins.
* Nicholas Timothy Hooper, BAFTA award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
-winning composer, has lived in Stonesfield since the 1980s. Nick, his wife Judith Marjorie Inez Hooper, and Susana Starling make up The Boot Band: a folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
trio. He runs his company, Nicholas Hooper Music Limited, from Sanders Gate, Churchfields.
* Robert Sherlaw Johnson
Robert Sherlaw Johnson (21 May 1932 – 3 November 2000), was a British composer, pianist and music scholar. Sherlaw Johnson was one of that group of post-war British musicians whose work reflected wider European interests in new ideas, techni ...
, composer, lived in Stonesfield from the late 1960s until his death in 2000.
* Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected ...
, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...
, lived in Stonesfield until her election as an MEP in 1999. She owned this house in Stonesfield for five years.
* Walter Padbury
Walter Padbury (22 December 1820 – 18 April 1907) was a British-born Australian pioneer, politician and philanthropist.
Early Life
Padbury was born in Stonesfield in the English county of Oxfordshire on 22 December 1820. At the age of 1 ...
, the Australian pioneer and philanthropist who arrived in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in February 1830, was born in Stonesfield.[Cara Cammilleri,]
Padbury, Walter (1820–1907)
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 388–389.
* Gordon Rudlin, founder of ''The Stonesfield Slate'' village magazine in December 1976 and financial officer for Oxfam in Oxford for 13 years. Died at the age of 97 in 2005.
* Sir William Strang, 1st Baron Strang
Baron Strang, of Stonesfield in the County of Oxford, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 16 January 1954 for the prominent diplomat Sir William Strang, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from ...
of Stonesfield (1893–1978), succeeded by his only son Colin Strang. Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affair ...
(1949–1953) and subsequently the first Convenor of the Crossbench peers
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
from 1968 to 1974.
Citations
General and cited sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Stonesfield Village: Official Parish Council website
Stonesfield Parish Council Council Transparency Portal: previous official parish council website
{{Authority control
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
Villages in Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire District