Brightwell Baldwin
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Brightwell Baldwin 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 ...
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 ...
, about northeast of Wallingford. It was historically in the Hundred of Ewelme and is now in the District of South Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 208. The parish is roughly rectangular, about long north–south and about wide east–west. In 1848 the parish covered an area of . The B4009 road linking
Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...
and Watlington forms part of the southern boundary of the parish. The B480 road linking
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 Watlington forms a small part of its northern boundary. Rumbolds Lane forms much of its western boundary. For the remainder the parish is bounded largely by field boundaries.


Toponym

"Brightwell" is derived from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for "bright spring".In fact a simple corruption of the words: Bride's Well. The name of the ancient British goddess (Bridget or Bride). This shows the antiquity of the place. "Baldwin" is the name of a family that held the
manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...
. The earliest known record of Brightwell Baldwin is a
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
charter of 854 in the ''
Cartularium Saxonicum ''Cartularium Saxonicum'' is a three volume collection of Anglo-Saxon charters published from 1885 to 1893 by Walter de Gray Birch (1842-1924), then working in the Department of Manuscripts at the British Library. The most recent edition was rele ...
'' that records 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 ...
as ''Beorhtawille'' or ''Brihtanwylle''. Almost a century later a Saxon charter of 945 records it as ''Byrhtanwellan''. 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 it as ''Bretewelle''.


Brightwell Park

The old
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 ...
of the Stone family burnt down in 1786, but a cruciform 17th-century
dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
that was some distance from the house survives in the park. In 1790 a replacement house was built. It has since been demolished, but its kitchen wing, stables, ice house and an 18th-century stone arch bridge in the park survive.


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 Bartholomew are 13th century, including a stair turret and a number of
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s, notably in 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 ...
. Early in the 14th century 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 ...
was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, with north and south
aisles Aisles is a six-piece progressive rock band originally from Santiago, Chile. The group was formed in 2001 by brothers Germán (guitar) and Luis Vergara (keyboards), and childhood friend Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar). Later on, it expanded to incl ...
linked to it by arcades of four
bays 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, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
. The west tower and the
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 ...
east window of the chancel were added in the 15th century. The
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 ...
and tester are Jacobean and therefore 17th century. The building was restored in 1895 and is a
Grade I listed 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 ...
. Church monuments in St Bartholomew's include a number of brasses. In the chancel are two brasses commemorating
John Cottesmore His Worship John Cottesmore SL JP (died 29 August 1439) was a British justice of unknown origin. The first record of his work was in Oxfordshire in 1403, the location of much of his early legal work. In 1418 he was appointed to a Commission of ...
, who died in 1439. Stone monuments include two 16th-century chest tombs of members of the Carleton family, and a substantial English Baroque monument to members of the Stone family on the east wall of the north chapel. The latter was built in about 1670 or 1690, replacing monuments to John Stone (died 1640) and his son Sir Richard Stone (died 1660) that were destroyed in the
Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...
in 1666. In the north aisle is a brass commemorating John the Smith, who died in 1371. It bears an epitaph written in
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, which may be the earliest example of an
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
in the English language. The epitaph reflects upon human mortality:
man com & se how schal alle dede li: wen þow comes bad & bare
noth hab ven ve awaẏ fare: All ẏs wermēs þt ve for care:—
bot þt ve do for godẏs luf ve haue nothyng yare:
hunyr þis graue lẏs John ye smẏth god yif his soule heuen grit
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 ...
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. John Saunders of
Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
cast the tenor bell in about 1559. Ellis I Knight, also of Reading, cast the fifth bell in 1637. Mears and 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 or recast the treble, second, third and fourth bells in 1911. There is also a Sanctus bell that was cast in about 1550. St Bartholomew's 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 Ewelme, Brightwell Baldwin,
Cuxham Cuxham is an English village in the civil parish of Cuxham with Easington in South Oxfordshire. It is about north of Wallingford and about south of Thame. Parish church The Church of England parish church of the Holy Rood has a Norman bell ...
and Easington. The churchyard includes a late 18th-century chest tomb a number of 17th-century gravestones that are
Grade II listed 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 ...
. Another 17th-century monument commemorates one Stephen Rumbold, who died in 1687 aged 105. On it a rhyming
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
bets with its readers:
He liv'd one hundred and five
Sanguine and Strong
An hundred to five
You do not live so long


Amenities

Brightwell Baldwin has a 17th-century
pub 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 ...
, The Lord Nelson Inn. 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 ...
. The Old Forge is a
Grade II listed 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 ...
former blacksmiths shop: it was bought in 2002 by the Duke and Duchess of Kent.


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links


Brightwell Baldwin Parish Meeting
{{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire