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Kirtlington 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 west of Bicester. The parish includes the hamlet of Northbrook. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 988. The parish measures nearly north–south and about east–west. It is bounded by the River Cherwell to the west, and elsewhere mostly by field boundaries. In 1959 its area was .


Archaeology

The Portway is a pre-Roman road running parallel with the Cherwell on high ground about east of the river. It bisects Kirtlington parish and passes through the village. A short stretch of it is now part of the A4095 road through the village. Longer stretches form minor roads to Bletchingdon and Upper Heyford. Akeman Street
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 ...
bisects the parish east–west passing just north of Kirtlington village. A minor road linking Kirtlington with Chesterton uses its course.
Aves ditch Aves Ditch (also known as Ash Bank, or Wattle Bank) is an Iron Age ditch and bank structure running about on a northeast to southwest alignment in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It was once believed to have been a Roman road but excavati ...
is pre-
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 ...
. One end of the ditch is in Kirtlington parish about north of the village. Just east of the parish school is 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 ...
ed site that is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Just east of the moated site are the remains of fish ponds.


Toponym and manor

The toponym "Kirtlington" 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 "the enclosure (''tūn'') of ''Cyrtla''s people". The earliest known record of it is as ''Cyrtlinctune'' in 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 944–6, now included 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 ...
''. In the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
era Kirtlington was a king's vill. The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' records that in 977 King Edward the Martyr held a witenagemot at ''Kyrtlingtun'' attended by
Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that ''Certelintone'', ''Cortelintone'' or ''Cherielintone'' had been a royal
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 ...
of
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...
and was now held by the conquering
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 ...
monarchy. The Domesday Book records the manor being a large and valuable estate of 11½ hides yielding an income of £52 a year. The Pipe rolls of 1190 record it as ''Kertlinton''. It remained a royal manor until 1604 when the Crown sold it to two wealthy Londoners. The manor house is recorded to have had a date-stone of 1563, but this has now been lost. The house is L-shaped, has a polygonal stair-turret on the south side and a
corbelled In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...
chimney-stack in the west side.


Church and chapels


Church of England

The earliest known record of a parish church at Kirtlington is in the Domesday Book of 1086. The oldest visible parts of the present
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 St Mary the Virgin include the early 12th-century
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 ...
arches supporting the central
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 ...
, and a tympanum of the same date that is now over the vestry door. Beneath the floor of the chancel are the foundations of a former apse that was also built early in the 12th century. About 1250 the nave was rebuilt and 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 ...
were added, each linked with the nave by arcades of three
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 transeptal chapel of Our Lady on the south side of the tower may be of the same date, and the apse was replaced with a rectangular chancel late in the 13th century. The west window of the nave dates from the 14th century, as do two windows flanking a blocked 13th-century doorway in the north aisle. The east window of the chancel, west doorway of the nave and south doorway of the south aisle are also 14th century. In the 15th century, a
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 and a porch was added to the south door. The Lady Chapel was also rebuilt in the 15th century, and other late Medieval additions include 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 ...
windows of the south aisle and another Perpendicular Gothic window in the north aisle. By 1716 the Lady chapel was ruinous and
Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Dashwood, 1st Baronet (1662–1734) was an English politician. Life The son of George Dashwood, a London merchant, and Margaret Perry, he was a first cousin of Sir Samuel Dashwood and Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet (the fortunes ...
had it converted into a family chapel and burial vault. In 1770 the tower was unsafe and was demolished, leaving its arches between the nave and chancel. In about 1853 Sir Henry William Dashwood, 5th Baronet had the bell tower rebuilt by the Gothic Revival architect
Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival. Family Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christc ...
in a Norman Revival style. In 1877 Sir Henry and Lady Dashwood had the chancel
restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...
by Sir
George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
. At the same time the organ was installed in the Dashwood Chapel, obscuring a 1724 memorial to the first three
Dashwood baronets There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Dashwood family, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. Both creations are extant as of 2008. Dashwood baronetcy in Baronetage of England The Dashw ...
and other members of the family. St Mary's is a Grade I listed building. The rebuilt 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 eight bells. Henry III Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast three of the bells in 1718, presumably at his then bellfoundry in Witney. Abel Rudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell in 1753. Two bells came from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry: one cast by Charles and George Mears in 1853 and the other by Mears and Stainbank in 1870. The current ring of eight was completed when John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the treble in 1938. St Mary's also has a Sanctus bell cast by Henry III Bagley in 1718. St Mary the Virgin is now part of the Akeman Church of England Benefice, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon, Chesterton, Hampton Gay,
Middleton Stoney Middleton Stoney is a village and civil parish about west of Bicester, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 331. The parish measures about north–south and about east–west, and in 1959 its area was . Its eas ...
, Wendlebury and Weston-on-the-Green.


Methodist

Kirtlington's first
nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...
meeting house was licensed in 1821 and was a member of the Oxford Methodist Circuit by 1824. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1830 and replaced by a stone-built chapel in 1854. In 1867 it belonged to the
United Methodist Free Churches United Methodist Free Churches, sometimes called Free Methodists, was an English nonconformist community in the last half of the 19th century. It was formed in 1857 by the amalgamation of the Wesleyan Association (which had in 1836 largely absorbed ...
, which in 1907 became part of the United Methodist Church. By 1954 the chapel had only about six members. It has since closed and is now a private house.


Economic and social history

Kirtlington had two water mills on the River Cherwell. They are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, as being owned by de Bella aqua, or bellew, a Norman baron, and in subsequent documents in about 1240, 1538 and 1689. All documents thereafter refer to only one mill in the parish. There was once a
horse mill A horse mill is a mill, sometimes used in conjunction with a watermill or windmill, that uses a horse engine as the power source. Any milling process can be powered in this way, but the most frequent use of animal power in horse mills was for grin ...
in the village. There were small enclosures of farmland in the parish in the 13th century and had been enclosed by 1476, but at that stage most of the parish was still farmed under an
open field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acre ...
. By 1750 the enclosed land totalled about of which , and the remaining common lands were enclosed in 1815. In 1583 a draper called John Phillips bequeathed the rental income from a house in Woodstock to employ a schoolmaster in Kidlington. His bequest did not provide for a schoolhouse, so a tenement called Church House was used. In 1759 the school had to close because the house in Woodstock had decayed to the point that it was unfit to be let. In 1766 the house was let on a repairing lease to George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough and between 1774 and 1778 the school reopened. The vicar and
Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet (1715–1779) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1740 to 1768. Early life He was the son of Robert Dashwood, and his grandfather from whom he inherited the baronetcy was Sir Robert D ...
were the governors, and it seems that subsequently the Dashwoods as well as the Phillips endowment supported the school. By 1808 two other schools had been founded in Kirtlington, and by 1814 one of them was a National School. In 1833 the three schools were effectively merged and in 1834 a purpose-built schoolhouse was opened. In 1947 it was reorganised as a junior and infants' school and in 1951 it became a voluntary aided school. It is now Kirtlington Church of England School.


Lamb Ale

The annual village festival is called the Lamb Ale. By 1679 it was an established tradition that would start the day after Trinity Sunday and last for two days. That year Thomas Blount and Josiah Beckwith wrote:
At ''Kidlington'' in ''Oxford-shire'' the Custom is, That on Monday after Whitson week, there is a fat live Lamb provided, and the Maids of the Town, having their Thumbs ty'd behind them run after it, and she that with her mouth takes and holds the Lamb, is declared ''Lady of the Lamb'', which being dress'd with the skin hanging on, is carried on a long Pole before the Lady and her Companions to the Green, attended with Musick and a '' Morisco Dance'' of Men, and another of Women, where the rest of the day is spent in dancing, mirth and merry glee. The next day the Lamb is part bak'd, boyld and rost, for the Ladies feast, where she sits majestically at the upper end of the Table and her Companions with her, with musick and other attendants, which ends the solemnity.
It is considered that the reference to Kidlington was a mistake, and that Kirtlington was the correct location. Later the festival extended to a whole week and in 1849 three special constables were sworn in ''"for the better preservation of peace and order at the ensuing Lamb Ale Feast"''. The custom died out early in the 1860s. In 1979 Kirtlington Morris was formed and revived the tradition in a modified form. Every year since the Ale has been held at the end of May or in early June. Typically about 20 morris sides attend the festival.


Kirtlington Park

Kirtlington Park is a Palladian
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 ...
about east of the village, built in 1742–46. It is a Grade I listed building. It is set in of parkland, landscaped by
Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...
, with views over the gardens to the
Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
. The house was built for
Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet (1715–1779) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1740 to 1768. Early life He was the son of Robert Dashwood, and his grandfather from whom he inherited the baronetcy was Sir Robert D ...
(1715–79), after he had married an heiress, Elizabeth Spencer. In 1740 he was elected a knight of the shire (MP) for
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 ...
. Kirtlington Park, still unfinished at Dashwood's death, remained in the family until 1909, when Sir George John Egerton Dashwood, 6th baronet, sold the house to the Earl of Leven and Melville. By 1922 it was owned by Hubert Maitland Budgett. In the Second World War the park was used as a Victory garden. Kirtlington Park is licensed to hold civil weddings.


Polo

In 1926 Hubert Budgett founded the
polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
club after Major Deed, who had lived in Argentina, persuaded him to play the game. In 1954, after the Second World War, Hubert Budgett's son Alan reopened the club and added a second ground. By 2005 a sixth polo ground had been added. Famous players who started by playing at Kirtlington Park include Malcolm Borwick,
Henry Brett Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...
, Robert Thame and Thor Gilje. Kirtlington Park polo school was founded in 1994. Kirtlington Stud is based at the Soulcombe estate north of Kirtlington.


Amenities

Kirtlington has an 18th-century hotel, the Dashwood Hotel and Restaurant, and an 18th- or 19th-century pub, the Oxford Arms. The village used to have a
sub-post office gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_cit ...
and village store, which closed in early 2020. There is a tea shop by the Oxford Canal at Pigeon Lock. It is open only two Saturdays and Sundays a month, and only from April to October. Kirtlington has a Women's Institute. Kirtlington Golf Club is about southwest of the village. Kirtlington Football Club plays behind the village hall.


Public transport

The nearest railway station is on the Cherwell Valley Line, from Kirtlington. Diamond bus route 250 serves Kirtlington, linking the village with Oxford ''via'' in one direction and Bicester ''via'' Upper Heyford and
Middleton Stoney Middleton Stoney is a village and civil parish about west of Bicester, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 331. The parish measures about north–south and about east–west, and in 1959 its area was . Its eas ...
in the other. Buses run from Mondays to Saturdays, mostly at hourly intervals. There is no late evening service, and no service on Sundays or
bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
s. The A4095 road passes through the village, as do the
Oxfordshire Way The Oxfordshire Way is a long-distance walk in Oxfordshire, England, with 6 miles in Gloucestershire and very short sections in Buckinghamshire. The path links with the Heart of England Way and the Thames Path. The path runs for from Bourton ...
long-distance footpath and the Oxfordshire Cycleway. Junction 9 of the
M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-r ...
is about east of the village.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Kirtlington OxfordshireKirtlington – Oxford
{{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire