Appleton, Oxfordshire
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Appleton is a village in the civil parish of Appleton-with-Eaton, about northwest of Abingdon. Appleton was part of
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded Appleton-with-Eaton's parish population as 915.


Manor

In the 9th century Abingdon Abbey held the manor of Appleton. The Danes sacked the abbey during the reign of King Alfred who later sequestered its estates, presumably including Appleton, because the monks had not made him a sufficient requital for vanquishing their enemies. . Appleton's
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, 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 ...
means "an orchard". In the 10th century it was ''Æppeltune'' or ''Appeltun'', from then until the 17th century it evolved as ''Apletone'', ''Apletune'' and ''Appelton'', and in 1316 it was recorded as ''Aspelton''. In the 10th century the village had the alternative name of ''Earmundeslæh'', ''Earmundesleah'', ''Earmundeslee'' or ''Earmundeslei'', referring to King Edmund I, who in 942 granted it to Athelstan, one of his
thegn In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were ...
s, who may have restored it to Abingdon Abbey. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086 records that Miles Crispin was the manorial overlord of Appleton and Eaton. There was also a second landholding at Appleton of which the overlord was Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was William of Normandy's half-brother. The Domesday Book records that Appleton had the most valuable fishery in
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
, valued at £1.4s.2d. From then on the history is largely a record of grants and reversions, the best-known names to appear in the list of grantors or tenants being William de Merton, perhaps a kinsman of the founder of Merton College, Oxford, Sir William de Shareshull, Lord Chief Justice in the reign of Edward III, and William Lenthall, Speaker of the Long Parliament (this at a time when the Lordship of the Manor descended with that of Besselsleigh) and, of more local note, the Fettiplace and the Southby families. Appleton Manor House dates from about 1174 and has an ornate doorway. The Grade-II*-listed house has a porch and fireplace that were added in the Tudor era.


Parish church

The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Laurence are 12th-century Norman. The north aisle was added late in that century, linked with the nave by a four- bay arcade of pointed arches. In the 13th century a new window and doorway were inserted in the south wall of the nave, as was the priest's doorway on the south side of the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
. The east window of the chancel is 14th-century in style. In the 15th century 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-ce ...
bell tower was added, a window inserted on the south side of the nave and the nave was re-roofed. The south porch was added early in the 16th century, the north aisle was rebuilt in the 17th century and the north porch was built in about 1700. The Gothic Revival architect CC Rolfe restored the nave in 1882–84. The church is a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. Monuments in the church include a
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
of two shrouded corpses in memory of John Goudrington, who died in 1518, and his wife. In the chancel is a
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
stone monument erected in 1593 in memory of Sir John Fettiplace, who died in 1580. It includes a life-size effigy of Sir John in 16th-century armour, a pair of Corinthian columns supporting a canopy surmounted by a pair of obelisks, and a long
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
inscription surrounded by extensive strapwork and a number of skulls. The tower has a ring of ten bells, all cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Thomas II Mears cast the seventh bell in 1817. George Mears cast the second and third bells in 1859 and the ninth and tenor bells in 1861. Mears and Stainbank recast the eighth bell in 1874 and cast the treble, fourth and fifth bells in 1875. The sixth bell was recast, and the fittings for all bells replaced, and a new frame installed in 1977. The work was carried out by White's of Appleton, in the same village.


White's of Appleton

In 1824 Alfred White founded White's of Appleton, a contractor for hanging church bells. The company is still based in Appleton and is now the oldest bellhanging company still trading in the United Kingdom.


Amenities

Appleton has a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
primary school, a community shop, a Women's Institute and a cricket club. Appleton All Stars Football Club was a member of the North Berks Football League. The club was dissolved in 2014. Oxfordshire County Council subsidised bus route 63 between
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and Southmoor serves Appleton five times a day in each direction from Monday to Friday. There is no service on Saturday, Sunday, or Bank Holidays. The current contractor operating the route is Thames Travel.


References


Sources

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External links


Appleton with Eaton
{{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire