Whichford 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 authorit ...

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-Avo ...

, England, about southeast of Shipston-on-Stour. The parish adjoins the county boundary with

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, primaril ...

and the village is about north of the Oxfordshire town 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 ...

. The parish includes the hamlet of Ascott, about east of Whichford village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 336.

Manor and toponymy

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 records ''Wicford'' as a manor of 15 hides. In a document of about 1130 the name is spelt ''Wicheforda''. Its

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

is not certain but it may mean "Ford of the Hwicce", who were an Anglo-Saxon tribe that settled and founded a kingdom in the area in the latter part of the 6th century AD. Ascott is a common English name meaning "eastern cottage(s)".

Parish church

The oldest part 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 ...

of St Michael is the 12th-century Norman south doorway. 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-typ ...

and part of 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. ...

are also 12th-century. In the 13th century the chancel was enlarged and the north aisle was added. There were many alterations in the 14th century including the addition of the northwest tower, south chapel and insertion of several new windows. The nave

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 in the 15th century. St Michael's is a

Grade II 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 Ir ...

. St Michael's west tower has a ring of eight bells. William Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire cast the sixth bell in 1695. William Taylor, who at the time had bell-foundries at

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

and

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 ...

, cast the seventh bell in 1848.

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

of Loughborough cast the third, fourth, fifth and tenor bells in 1904. At the time these completed a ring of six bells. The ring was increased to eight in 1998, when John Taylor & Co cast and hung the present treble and second bells. St Michael's has also a

Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...

bell that William Bagley cast in 1706.

Whichford House

Whichford House was built in the 17th century as St Michael's rectory. In the 18th century it was enhanced with an open stairwell, and a stone chimneypiece and wooden panelling in one of the principal rooms. The House is a

Grade II* 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 Ir ...

Notable people

* George Rainbird (1905-1986), British publisher, lived at Whichford House

Amenities

Whichford has a pub, the Norman Knight.

References

Stained-glass, Whichford Church - geograph

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Whichford and Ascott
{{authority control Civil parishes in Warwickshire Villages in Warwickshire