Rousham Gardens, approaching Praeneste - geograph.org.uk - 1180737.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rousham is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell 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 ...
. The village is about west of Bicester and about north of Kidlington. The parish is bounded by the River Cherwell in the east, the A4260 main road between Oxford and Banbury in the west, partly by the B4030 in the north, and by field boundaries with Tackley parish in the south. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 80. Rousham was founded early in the Anglo-Saxon era. Its toponym is derived from
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 ...
meaning ''Hrothwulf's ham'' or farm.


Manor

The Domesday Book records that in 1086 there were two manors at Rousham. The larger belonged to 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 ...
nobleman Robert D'Oyly and the smaller to his brother in arms Roger d'Ivry. The D'Oyly manor later became part of the honour of Wallingford and in 1279 its overlord was
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 ...
. The latest known records of Rousham remaining in the Honour of Wallingford are from the 15th century. The d'Ivry family line died out in 1215 and the d'Ivry manor at Rousham became part of the Honour of St. Valery. In 1237 Henry III granted the d'Ivry manor at Rousham to
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Poi ...
and in 1279 it, like the D'Oyly manor, was held by Richard's son Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall.


Rousham House


Parish church

The earliest known dedication 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 ...
was to Saint
Germanus of Auxerre Germanus of Auxerre ( la, Germanus Antissiodorensis; cy, Garmon Sant; french: Saint Germain l'Auxerrois; 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a h ...
, recorded in 1328. A "German's Well" recorded in the parish in 1626 refers to St Germanus. By 1846 the church had been rededicated to
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 ...
and by 1864 it had been changed again to
Saint James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater **Saint James Matamoro ...
. The present dedication of
Saint Leonard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haut ...
and Saint James dates from 1904. The church building dates from the 12th century. The easternmost
bay 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 (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
of the arcade for the south aisle was built in about 1180 and 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 early in the 13th century. Between 1296 and 1316 a chantry chapel was added to the north side of the nave. Slightly later the south aisle was extended the full length of the nave, a south chapel was included and a south porch was added. The arch to the south chapel is 14th century and all the windows of the south aisle are Decorated Gothic. 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 rood screen and rood loft were built across the nave and aisle. The chantry chapel was in disrepair by 1520 and demolished shortly after 1530. Later in the 16th century a large window was inserted in the north wall of the nave towards its western end. It and all the other windows in the north wall are
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 ...
. In 1867–68 the church building was restored, the chancel and south porch were rebuilt and the height of the chancel was increased. In 1744 the wooden
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 ...
was built, and during the restoration of 1867–68 it was reduced in height. The pews were rebuilt in the 19th century but include some 17th and 18th century panelling. 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. Richard Keene of Woodstock cast five of them including the treble and tenor bells in 1675; Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the fourth bell in 1825. Rousham
Rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...
was a large house, consisting of eight bays in 1634 and 11 bays in 1685. It was remodelled in 1804 and enlarged in 1873, when the present attic floor was added. The architect of the 1873 works was William Wilkinson of Oxford, whose commissions included several clergy houses in Oxfordshire. In 1921 the house was sold to the Cottrell-Dormers.


Economic and social history

The north-south Oxford–Banbury road that forms the parish's western boundary is an ancient ridgeway. It was a turnpike from 1755 until 1875. In the 1920s road classification the Oxford– Adderbury stretch of the former turnpike was made part of the
A423 road The A423 road is a primary road, primary A roads in Great Britain, A road in England in two sections. The main section leads from central Banbury to the A45 road (Great Britain), A45 near Coventry. Route It starts in Banbury town centre as ...
. When 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 ...
was completed in the 1990s the old Oxford–Banbury ridgeway was reclassified the A4260. The Bicester–Enstone road that forms part of the parish's northern boundary has existed at least since 1255 when a bridge was built at
Lower Heyford Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, about west of Bicester. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 492. The parish measures about east–west and about north–south. It is bou ...
to carry it across the River Cherwell. The road was a turnpike from 1793 until 1876. Since the 1920s road classification this road has been the B4030. The Domesday Book records that by 1086 the parish had two water mills, presumably on the River Cherwell. By 1222 there was only one mill, and this still existed in 1547. Its later history is not clear but it had gone by 1721. In 1636 Sir Robert Dormer, lord of the manor of Rousham, refused to pay ship money. During the English Civil War a Royalist force plundered the house and village in 1644 and a detachment of Royalist cavalry occupied the house early in 1645. Most of Rousham parish was 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 ...
until the 18th century. There had been one small enclosure by 1601 and a second in 1645. The enclosure of the parish's remaining common lands in 1775 was by agreement between the landowners without recourse to an Act of Parliament. Clement Cottrell-Dormer established a parish school in about 1785. Between 1808 and 1818 it had between 22 and 25 pupils, but there is no record of it after 1834. In 1878 Clement Upton-Cottrell-Dormer established a new parish school in the building just south of the parish church. It opened with 35 pupils but this declined to 25 in 1889 and 16 in 1906. The school was closed in 1926 but its building is still recognisable as the schoolhouse, complete with bell-turret on the western gable. Between 1845 and 1850 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was built, passing through the eastern margin of the parish beside the River Cherwell. In 1850 it opened
Heyford railway station Heyford railway station serves the village of Lower Heyford and surrounding areas in Oxfordshire, England. It is on the Cherwell Valley Line and is ideally located for visiting the Oxford Canal and Heyford Wharf, which are both alongside. The ...
at
Lower Heyford Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, about west of Bicester. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 492. The parish measures about east–west and about north–south. It is bou ...
, north of Rousham village. The station is now part of the Cherwell Valley Line and is served by
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 ...
trains.


Gallery

Rousham SSLeonard&James SouthArcade ImpostCapital.JPG, St Leonard and James': square-cut capital of impost on east side of east arch of south aisle, ''circa'' 1180 Rousham SSLeonard&James SouthArcade ColumnCapital.JPG, St Leonard and James': capital of column between east and middle arches of arcade of south aisle: square-cut on east side (''circa'' 1180) but octagonally-cut on west side (early 13th century) Rousham SSLeonard&James 2CoatsOfArms.JPG, St Leonard and James': family coats of arms (in south aisle?) Rousham SSLeonard&James 3CoatsOfArms.JPG, St Leonard and James': family coats of arms (in south aisle?) Rousham SSLeonard&James Font.JPG, St Leonard and James': marble font installed in 1753 Rousham SSLeonard&James WarMemorial.JPG, St Leonard and James': monument to Clement, Charles and Humphrey Cottrell-Dormer, died 1914–15


References


Sources and further reading

* * *


External links

* {{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District