Cassington StPeter South.JPG
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cassington is a village and civil parish 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 northwest of Oxford. The village lies on gravel strata about from the confluence of the River Evenlode with the River Thames. The parish includes the hamlet of Worton northeast of the village and the site of the former hamlet of Somerford to the south. Somerford seems to have been abandoned early in the 14th century. Cassington is formed of two parts, "upper" and "lower", each with its own village green. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 750.


Archaeology

Evidence has been found of Neolithic occupation. Traces have been found of 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 ...
settlement with buildings, a village boundary and a field system.


Toponym

Cassington's toponym 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 ...
''Caersentun'' meaning "tun where cress grows". The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as ''Cersetone'' in the Oxfordshire hundred of Wootton.


Manors

In 1086 William the Conqueror's half-brother
Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...
,
Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...
was the
feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
overlord of Cassington. Cassington was divided into different manors. Odo granted the mesne lordship of the largest manor to Ilbert de Lacy and two smaller manors to Wadard, a knight in William's court. Ilbert de Lacy's manor at Cassington became part of the honour of Pontefract and passed to de Lacy's descendants, the Earls of Lincoln. When
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1251February 1311), Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Bowland, Baron of Halton and hereditary Constable of Chester, was an English nobleman and confidant of King Edward I. He served Edward in Wales, France, and Sco ...
died in 1311 the Pontefract manor at Cassington passed to his son-in-law Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster had no sons, so when he died in 1361 the Pontefract manor at Cassington passed to one of his daughters, Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. There is no surviving record of the lordship of this manor thereafter. By 1123 the mesne lord of one of Wadard's manors was King Henry I's chamberlain Geoffrey de Clinton. The mesne lordship was passed down to Geoffrey's descendants until 1242 when it was sold to the de Cauntelo family, who held it until 1356. No record of it survives thereafter. In 1317 William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, then tenant of this manor, was licensed to crenellate his manor house. The house also had a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
and three fishponds. A mound southeast of the parish church marks the site of the house, and there are remains of the earthworks for the fishponds in a field to the south. By 1235 Wadard's other manor at Cassington was part of the honour of
Saint Valery Saint Walaric, modern French Valery (died 620), was a Frankish monk turned hermit who founded the . His cult was recognized in Normandy and England. Life Walaric was born in the Auvergne to a peasant family. Taught to read at a young age, he a ...
, which by 1300 belonged to
Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall Edmund of Almain (26 December 1249 – 1300) was the second Earl of Cornwall of the fourth creation from 1272. He joined the Ninth Crusade in 1271, but never made it to the Holy Land. He was the regent of the Kingdom of England from 1286 to 1289 ...
. However, by 1414 it was part of the Honour of Wallingford. By the end of the 12th century the mesne lordship of the manor had been divided and after 1247 the mesne lord of one part granted it to
Godstow Abbey Godstow is about northwest of the centre of Oxford. It lies on the banks of the River Thames between the villages of Wolvercote to the east and Wytham to the west. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, also known as Godstow Nunnery, are here. A bridge s ...
. The lordship of the other part changed hands down the centuries. In 1661 it was bought by Henry Allnut, and in 1711 his son (also Henry) sold it to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. In the 13th century Godstow Abbey acquired part of the Pontefract manor at Cassington as well as part of the St Valery manor. The abbey combined them in a single manor which it retained until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536. The manor house was on the south side of the village, apparently where Thames Mead Farm now stands. The current farmhouse on the site bears a date stone of 1607.


Church and chapel

Geoffrey de Clinton built 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 Peter in the
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
style before 1123. In 1318 Lady Montacute, who was a major benefactor of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford, made Decorated Gothic additions to St Peter's: the west window of the nave, east window of the chancel, the
broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...
and the upper part of the tower on which it rests. Fragments of Medieval wall painting from this period survive in the church, including a Doom over the Norman chancel arch. St Peter's church 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. James Keene of Bedford, whose bell-foundries included one at Woodstock, cast the third bell in 1640 and the fourth bell in 1652. His son Richard Keene cast the treble and fifth bells in 1665 and the tenor bell in 1666. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the second bell in 1953, the year of Elizabeth II's coronation. St Peter's 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
Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,0 ...
and Cassington. After 1827 a Methodist congregation developed in Cassington, with itinerant preachers holding meetings in villagers' cottages. In 1870 the congregation built its own
Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...
chapel. The chapel had closed by 1982 and is now commercial premises.


Economic and social history

The parish's common lands were inclosed in 1801. In the 18th century the village had at least four public houses: the Bell, Chequers, Mason's Arms and Red Lion. Worton also had a public house, the Crown. The Mason's Arms closed in 1775 and the Crown closed in 1796. The Bell was in Lower Cassington and was built in 1688. It closed in 1976 and the building in Bell Lane is now a private house. In 1724 Henry Allnut, a lawyer of the Middle Temple in London who had owned one of the manors at Cassington and had an estate at Goring Heath in South Oxfordshire, left a continuing income from his estate to teach, clothe and apprentice boys from five parishes including Cassington. Allnut also founded a set of
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
s at Goring Heath. Allnut's charity maintained a small school for boys at Cassington throughout the 18th century. By 1831 the Vicar of St Peter's had established a day school that incorporated Allnut's charity, and in 1853 the building of a new schoolhouse beside upper Cassington green was funded jointly by the parish, Christ Church and the Allnut charity. The new school was a National School by 1866 and was enlarged in 1876. In 1926 it was reorganised as a junior school, with older children going to Gosford Hill School. In 1973 the school moved to new buildings adjacent to the old one, which became a private house. It is now St Peter's Church of England primary school and occupies an adjacent modern school building Between 1800 and 1802 the 4th Duke of Marlborough, who was a shareholder in the Oxford Canal, built the
Cassington Cut The Cassington Canal (also known as the Cassington Cut or the Evenlode Cut) was an early 19th-century canal near Eynsham, Oxfordshire. The canal was built by the 4th Duke of Marlborough to provide a link between the River Thames and Cassingto ...
, a "broad" canal about long linking the Thames with a wharf about southwest of the village. The wharf had its own public house, The Barge, which was open between 1804 and 1872. In 1861 the Witney Railway was built past Cassington, linking with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at nearby . This may have contributed to the decline of the Cut, which seems to have become disused by about 1870. The Barge public house closed at the same time or shortly afterwards. In 1935 the stretch of the A40 road between
Wolvercote Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames. History The Domesday B ...
and
Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,0 ...
was built through the parish past Cassington village. In 1936 the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
opened just southeast of the village. It served the village until
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways withdrew passenger trains from the Witney Railway in 1962.


Reopening the railway

In February 2015, the Witney Oxford Transport Group proposed the reopening of the
station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
as an alternative to improvements to the A40 road proposed by
Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...
. There is a strong case to reopen the railway given the severe traffic congestion on the roads to and from Oxford.


Amenities

Cassington's two remaining public houses are the Chequers and the Red Lion, on opposite sides of Upper Cassington green. In the early 2000s the Chequers was demolished and rebuilt by a redevelopment team led by Stephen Ibbitson, alongside a row of new houses and a village hall. It is owned independently, previously controlled by the
Young's Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs. The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...
pub company. The Red Lion remains in its original building, complete with a stone-lined well visible inside the building. There is a small newsagent in the village but there are no other shops - the part-time Post Office has also closed. Cassington Football Club played in the Witney and District Football Association Premier League but the club was dissolved in 2009. The Elms Road sports field is still used for football and cricket. Oxford Rescue and Cassington Cricket Club belonged to the Oxfordshire Cricket Association, but in May 2014 due to a shortage of players the club withdrew from the OCA and dissolved itself. Cassington has a Women's Institute.


Cassington Bike Night

The British Motorcycle Riders' Club (Oxford) meets at the Red Lion. On the last Monday of June the village holds its annual Bike Night on Upper Cassington village green. Several thousand motorcyclists fill the village to see a static display of hundreds of historic British motorcycles. St Peter's School, the Women's institute, the village's pre-school playgroup and a
Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...
troop from nearby Eynsham all raise funds from the event.


References


Sources and further reading

* * * * * * *


External links


Cassington Parish Council
* {{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District