Asterleigh, sometimes in the past called Esterley,Page, 1907 is a farm and

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 ...

in 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 ...

Kiddington with Asterleigh Kiddington with Asterleigh is a civil parish in West Oxfordshire, England. It contains the small village of Kiddington, the hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by Wi ...

, in the West Oxfordshire district, 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, about northeast of Charlbury. The site of the former village is about west of the present farm.Jope, 1948, pages 67-69

Manor

Asterleigh's

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 ...

indicates that it was created by woodland clearance on what would then have been the edge of

Wychwood Wychwood or Wychwood Forest is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Witney in Oxfordshire. It is also a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, and an area of is a national nature reserve The site contains a long barrow ...

Forest. 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 does not record Asterleigh as a separate settlement. Medieval pottery found in 1948 suggests that Asterleigh was inhabited by the 12th century. Also in 1948, squared stones were found along with limestone roofing slates that had medieval-style drilled nail-holes. The earliest known documentary record of Asterleigh is from early in the 13th century. At the time of the Hundred Rolls in 1279 it had 20 farms.Emery, 1974, page 102 However, the village declined and its landowning family decided to leave the village and move to Nether Kiddington.

Church

Asterleigh was an ecclesiastical parish that had its own

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

by 1216. However, in 1466 John Chedworth, Bishop of Lincoln absorbed Asterleigh into the ecclesiastical parish of

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 ...

, declaring:

''the tenths, oblations, rents and
emoluments Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in addition ...
of the rectory of Asterleigh were so diminished as to be insufficient to support a rector, or even a competent parochial chaplain, on account of the paucity of parishioners, the barrenness of land, defects of husbandry, and an unusual prevalence of pestilences and epidemic sicknesses.''

In 1783 the Reverend Thomas Warton reported that ''"pieces of moulded stone and other antique masonry"'' had been found at Asterleigh. In 1960 the footings of the church porch were unearthed and reburied.

Farm and civil parish

By the 18th century Asterleigh was no more than a farmhouse. Asterleigh Farm was an extra-parochial area of until 1858 when it was made a

.Vision of Britain website: Kiddington
/ref> On 1 October 1895 the parish was abolished and merged with Kiddington to form "Kiddington with Asterleigh". In 1891 the parish had a population of 37. The site of the medieval village and church is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.West Oxfordshire District Council: Scheduled Ancient Monuments

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{West Oxfordshire Deserted medieval villages in Oxfordshire Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District