Great Rollright is a village 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 authorit ...

of Rollright, about north of

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

, Oxfordshire.

Archaeology

The megalithic

Rollright Stones The Rollright Stones are a complex of three Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments near the village of Long Compton, on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Constructed from local oolitic limestone, the three monuments, now known ...

are about west of Great Rollright, near the

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

village of Long Compton.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew has

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 ...

, Early English,

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

and Perpendicular Gothic features. St Andrew's was restored in 1852 under the direction of the Oxford Diocesan Architect, GE Street. St Andrew's is a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

. The west 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. William Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast the fourth, fifth and tenor bells in 1695 and the third bell in 1696. W&J Taylor cast the second bell in 1839, presumably at the foundry they then had at

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 ...

. Henry I Bond and Sons of

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...

cast the treble bell in 1899. St Andrew's parish is now part of the Benefice of

Hook Norton Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It lies northeast of Chipping Norton, close to the Cotswold Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,117. The village is formed of four neighbourhoods: E ...

with Great Rollright,

Swerford Swerford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is about northeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, Chipping Norton. Swerford has two main neighbourhoods: Ch ...

and Wigginton. On the 23 December 1944, a

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (43-38812) was on a flight from RAF Portreat to

RAF Glatton Royal Air Force Glatton or more simply RAF Glatton is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England. History United States Army Air Forces use When completed in late 1943, the facility was placed under ...

. The aircraft crashed while descending in darkness & fog 2 miles North of Great Rollright, killing 8 of the 9 crew.

Economic and social history

Former Pub-Hotel, Great Rollright - geograph

The former

Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conve ...

, part of the Great Western Railway, was completed in 1881. The line had a small railway station, , south of Great Rollright. British Railways closed the halt in 1951 and the railway in 1964. The village has a former pub, The Unicorn Inn. It was controlled by

Hunt Edmunds Hunt Edmunds was a brewery in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. History The brewery was founded by John Hunt in 1840, but it was Thomas Hunt who went into partnership with William Edmunds (1826–1908) in 1850. Edmunds' son, Charles Fletcher Edmund ...

Brewery of Banbury until the company was taken over in the 1960s. The Unicorn ceased trading in the late 1980s and is currently derelict, but there is a campaign to restore it.

Amenities

Great Rollright has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

primary school. In 2010 Great Rollright also lost its

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

and now has only a post office van service.

References

Sources

External links

"Rollright Review"
Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub