Idbury 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 the

Cotswold Hills The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

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 southeast of

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was found ...

in neighbouring

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The parish includes the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Bould and Foscot. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240.

Archaeology

About west of the village is a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, Idbury Camp. It was used in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

occupation and

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 ...

era, and possibly earlier. The village's

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 ...

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 "Ida's ''

burh A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...

''", further attesting to the fort's continued use in the Saxon era. The remains of its rampart are about wide, up to high and enclose an area of about . The fort is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Parish church

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 ...

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

was originally

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 ...

, but little survives from this period except the ornate north doorway. Early in the 14th century the bell-turret, north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

, south porch and south doorway were added, new windows were inserted 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 ...

and the chancel arch was altered. The east window is

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 ...

. 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 shortly afterwards. Later 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 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 ...

and other windows were added to the nave and north aisle, all of them

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 ...

. The church 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 tower has three bells, two of which are medieval. The second and tenor bells were cast in about 1420 by an unknown bellfounder, and the treble was cast in 1749 by Abel

Rudhall of Gloucester Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells. History There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. ...

. There is also a Sanctus bell that was cast in about 1320 and hangs in a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

on the gable end of the nave above the chancel arch. The tower also has an early

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community ...

of a type that is unusual for this part of England. It has a wooden frame more characteristic of the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. Early in the 18th century the clock was modified with the addition of a new escapement of unusual design, but the clock itself is considerably older. St Nicholas' parish is 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 ...

Shipton-under-Wychwood Shipton-under-Wychwood is an English village and civil parish in the Evenlode valley about north of Burford, Oxfordshire. The village is one of three named after the ancient forest of Wychwood. The others are Milton-under-Wychwood immediately ...

with

Milton-under-Wychwood Milton-under-Wychwood is an English village and civil parish about north of Burford, Oxfordshire, just off the A361 road between Burford and Chipping Norton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,648. History The village is o ...

, Fifield and Idbury.

Social history

Idbury had a

Church of England school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some count ...

from 1845 until 1966. The building is now a private house. The engineer Sir Benjamin Baker, noted for his work on the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...

and the first

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

, is buried in the churchyard.

''The Countryman''

J. W. Robertson Scott John William Robertson Scott Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (born in Wigton, Cumberland on 20 April 1866, died Idbury, Oxfordshire on 21 December 1962) was a British journalist and author, best known for his writings on rural affairs, and a ...

moved to Idbury Manor in 1922 and founded ''The Countryman'' magazine there in 1927. In 1924 the novelist

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as ''Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and ''Kingdoms of Elfin''. Life Sylvia Townsend Warner wa ...

rented a cottage in Idbury from Robertson Scott. In 1934 the Canadian poet Frank Prewett moved to Idbury where he briefly worked as assistant editor of ''The Countryman''. In 1949 Robertson Scott retired and the magazine moved to

Burford, Oxfordshire 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 Chelte ...

. Apart from a short period in a London office, the magazine remained at Burford until 2003, when publication moved to

Broughton Hall, North Yorkshire Broughton is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is on the A59 road approximately west of Skipton. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 81 increasing to 172 at the 2011 Ce ...

References

St Nicholas, Idbury, Oxon - Hearse - geograph

Sources

* * * * *

External links

{{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District