Wootton 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 ...
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 ...
about north of
Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100.
Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is next to Wo ...
. In recent years the village is sometimes referred to as Wootton-by-Woodstock to distinguish it from
Wootton, Vale of White Horse
Wootton is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about north-west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The parish of Wootton includes the hamlets of Whitecross ...
, which was in
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 ...
but was transferred to
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 ...
in the
1974 local authority boundary changes. The
2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 569. The parish is bounded to the west partly by the River Glyme, to the north partly by a stream that joins the River Dorn, to the south-east by 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 ...
, to the south-west by the pale of
Blenheim Great Park and on other sides by field boundaries. It includes two
deserted medieval village
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...
s: Dornford on the
River Dorn, and Hordley on the River Glyme just downstream of the confluence of the Dorn and Glyme.
Parish church
The earliest parts of 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 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 ...
are the
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 ...
, north
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 ...
and lower part of the tower, all of which date from the first half of the 13th century, and the south porch, which is
Early English. In the 14th century 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 ...
and chancel arch were rebuilt and most of the windows in the building were replaced, all in a
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 ...
style. The upper part of the
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
was added in the 15th century and 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 ...
was added to the nave in the 16th century, each in a
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 ...
style.
The tower has 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 six bells. Edward Hemins of
Bicester
Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...
cast the third, fourth and fifth bells in 1732
and the tenor bell in 1739.
[ Abel ]Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells.
History
There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. ...
[ cast the second bell in 1749][ and 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 present treble bell in 1923.][ St. Mary's also has a Sanctus bell that Thomas Rudhall cast in 1778.][ 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 Wootton with 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 Kiddington
Kiddington is a village on the River Glyme in the civil parish of Kiddington with Asterleigh about southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village is just north of the A44 road between Woodstock and Chipping Norton.
Manor
The toponym ...
.
Economic and social history
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 Wootton as the court of the hundred of Wootton. At 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 1279 Hordley was recorded as having 19 households and of land. By the early part of the 16th century this had declined to only five (adult) residents. The Gregory family had converted most of the farmland from arable to pasture which would have done much to reduce the village population. The house at Hordley Farm, about southeast of Wootton, was built for the Gregory family in about 1500. It is arranged around three and a half sides of a quadrangle, possibly following the plan of an earlier medieval house on the same site. The kitchen fireplace and two of the doorways have four-centred arch
A four-centered arch is a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius, and then turning into two arches with a wide radius and much lower ...
es that date from about 1500, and the north wing has two square-headed windows from the later 16th century. The ground-floor rooms have some 17th-century panelling. In 1750 the house was remodelled and a gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands.
Etymology
The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...
was built in the garden.
In 1787 the Rev. Charles Parrott, sometime vicar of Saham Toney
Saham Toney is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is North of Thetford, west of Norwich and north-east of London. The village lies west of the town of Attleborough. The nearest railway station is at At ...
in Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, died leaving a bequest for a school to be founded and run in Wootton. Early in the 19th century further schools were added in Wootton, including one run by the rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
. In 1836 a new building was completed to merge all education in the village into one school. The Rector, Rev. L.C. Lee, paid towards the cost of the site and gave capital and the income from several cottages to fund the new school. In 1942 it was reorganised as a junior school. It is now Wootton-by-Woodstock Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
Primary School. Wootton had two public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s until 2008, when the King's Head closed.
Amenities
The village has one public house, the Killingworth Castle Inn, which was built in 1637. It is now a gastropub
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s.
Etymology
The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...
that has won a Michelin ''Bib Gourmand'' and two AA rosettes. Wootton also has a village store.Wootton Stores
/ref>
References
Sources and further reading
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External links
Wootton by Woodstock
*
{{Authority control
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
Villages in Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire District