Westwell is a small village and civil parish about southwest of the market town of Burford 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 ...

. It is the westernmost village in the county, close to the border with Gloucestershire.

Manor

The oldest part of the Manor House was built in about 1545. The east wing of the house was added in about 1750 and the north and south wings in about 1840. The house was altered and restored in 1920. Close to the Manor House is a dovecote that was built in the 17th century. It is still in use as a dovecote. Adjoining the Manor House to the northeast is a barn that was probably built in the 18th century, but has a Tudor arched entrance with a mullioned window above. The Manor House, dovecote and barn are all Grade II* listed buildings.

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 ...

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

is Norman and was built in the 12th century. The chancel arch may have originally been Norman, but if so it was later altered in the Transitional style from Norman to Early English Gothic. The chancel's east window may also be Transitional, but the windows in its north and south walls are Early English lancets. The south porch was added in the 14th century and to the east of it one of the nave windows is

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 other windows of the nave are Victorian. In 1869 the nave was extended one

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

to the west and the bell-turret was added. St Mary's is a Grade I listed building. The 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 Shill Valley and Broadshire, which includes also the parishes of Alvescot, Black Bourton, Broadwell, Broughton Poggs, Filkins, Holwell, Kelmscott,

Kencot Kencot is a village and civil parish about south-west of Carterton in West Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 101. Archaeology A Neolithic stone hand axe was found at Kencot. Petrological analysis in 1940 ident ...

, Langford, Little Faringdon and Shilton. The

Rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

(now the Old Rectory) was built at or before the end of the 17th century. It is a five-bayed building of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

Cotswold stone. It is a Grade II* listed building.

War memorial

The Westwell war memorial was erected after the First World War. It incorporates a numeral from a face of the clock of the

Cloth Hall, Ypres The Cloth Hall ( nl, Lakenhal/Lakenhalle) is a large cloth hall, a medieval commercial building, in Ypres, Belgium. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish ...

. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry had fought in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914 and the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

near Ypres in 1917.

References

Sources and further reading

* *

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District Civil parishes in Oxfordshire