West Ginge is a

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 ...

within the

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 ...

Ardington Ardington is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. Since 2012 responsibility for Ardington and the neighbouring ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

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 ...

(formerly

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 ...

), by road to the southeast of Wantage. West Ginge is immediately next to the hamlet of East Ginge, which is contained within the parish of

West Hendred West Hendred is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. West Hendred is downland village, its parish stretching from the Ridgeway in the south ...

. West Ginge is more populous than East Ginge, which is dominated by farm buildings, and the two hamlets are often simply referred to as Ginge.

Geography

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

Ginge Brook begins in the hamlet, which continues northward to

Sutton Courtenay Sutton Courtenay is a village and civil parish on the River Thames south of Abingdon-on-Thames and northwest of Didcot. Historically part of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of Oxfordshire since the 1974 boundary changes. The 201 ...

and Steventon to join the River Thames near Abingdon.

Manor

Ginge Manor or Ginge Manor House is a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

that became a Grade II listed building on 25 October 1951. It is the family seat of the Viscount Astor and is currently occupied by

William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor William Waldorf Astor III, 4th Viscount Astor (born 27 December 1951) is an English businessman and politician who sits as a Conservative hereditary Lord Temporal in the House of Lords. He is a member of the Astor family, which is known for ...

and his wife

Annabel Astor, Viscountess Astor Annabel Lucy Veronica Astor, Viscountess Astor (, formerly Sheffield; born 14 August 1948), is an English businesswoman and socialite who is the CEO of OKA, a home furnishings design company. Before co-founding OKA, she was the owner and designe ...

, who is the mother of Samantha Cameron, the wife of the former British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. The estate includes a "magnificent manor" house and servant quarters, which is a "humble" three bedroom cottage, amongst several other features including several barns and old farm cottages. Several of the barns in the area have been converted into residences. The estate has gardens, an outdoor swimming pool and a tennis court. The current manor house dates to the early 17th century, square and is built from red brick, with an early 18th-century cross-wing on the left side and a 20th-century extension on the right wing. The rear has a six-panel door framed with wooden

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The interior features a "dog-leg staircase with barley-sugar twist and fluted balusters, moulded handrail and panelled dado." East Ginge from the air - geograph

History

A manor at Ginge was mentioned in 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 and stated to be under the patronage of Abingdon Abbey, and both were then and for many centuries afterwards part of the county of

. In the time of the Saxons the lands belonged to three proprietors of the name of Selva, Topius, and Borda; and at the General Survey to Robert de Gernon, or Grino, whose son and heir was William de Montfitchet, Head of the Barony of Stansted. Upon his death, in the reign of Henry II, William's son Gilbert de Montfitchet was said to have "granted half the Manor of Ginges (with the exception of the outer wood called Westfrid) with all its

appurtenances An appurtenance is something subordinate to or belonging to another larger, principal entity, that is, an adjunct, satellite or accessory that generally accompanies something else. His son Richard, seems to have given the Brethren the other part of this Manor, for in King John's Confirmation Charter it says, "The Vill of Ginnges with the Church and all its appurtenances." During the time of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

and

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...

in the 1260s it was known to have been owned by Robert, son of Andrew le Blund. It is mentioned again in 1431, when it was owned by Alice, the wife of Walter Gyffard, who passed it onto her son William Gyffard upon her death on 24 April 1431. In 1614, the manor was sold by Sir John Horton and his wife Lady Jane, daughter of Serjeant Hanham of Wimbourne for £1400 to Minister Benedict Winchombe of Noke, Oxfordshire. Ginge was accidentally bombed in

World War II 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 ...

by a German bomber. The pilot believed that he was unloading ammunition onto open countryside after an attack on

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, but instead struck houses in the hamlet.

References

{{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire Country houses in Oxfordshire Grade II listed houses Grade II listed buildings in Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse History of Berkshire