Bainton is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

comprising a cluster of farms 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Stoke Lyne Stoke Lyne is a village and civil parish about north of Bicester, Oxfordshire in southern England. Etymology The name ''Stoke Lyne'' is first attested, simply as ''Stoches'', in the Domesday Book of 1086. This name comes from the Old English ...

, about north of the centre of

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

History

The

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 ...

comes from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for "Bada's farm".Lobel, 1959, pages 312–323 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 ...

records that in 1086 Ghilo de

Picquigny Picquigny () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Picquigny is situated at the junction of the N235, the D141 and D3 roads, on the banks of the river Somme, some northwest (and downstream) o ...

held the manor of Bainton. In 1279, Bainton had 17 households. In 1316, 18 villagers were assessed to pay taxes but by 1520, the figure had fallen to five. By the 1950s Bainton comprised only four farmhouses and a cottage. In 1530, the manor was sold to Edward Peckham, cofferer to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and John Williams, later 1st Baron Williams de Thame. In 1613 Edward Ewer of Bucknell sold the manor to

Sir William Cope, 2nd Baronet Sir William Cope, 2nd Baronet (1577 Hanwell, Oxfordshire - 2 August 1637) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1604 and 1625. Family William Cope was the son of Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet of ...

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

for £5,300. A legal dispute between them ensued, which ended with Ewer recovering the manor in 1628. The Ewer family could not afford to keep Bainton, and sold the manor again in 1637. By the middle of the 17th century, Bainton had been converted from arable farming to pasture. This required less labour so the hamlet became depopulated. Bainton Manor Farm is a coursed

rubblestone Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar with ...

house. It was constructed in either the latter part of the 16th or earlier part of the 17th century, during the Great Rebuilding of England, originally as the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. In 1783 John Warde, founder and first Master of the Bicester Hunt, was using it as a hunting-box, Joseph Bullock of

Caversfield Caversfield is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about north of the centre of Bicester. In 1844 Caversfield became part of Oxfordshire, but until then it was always an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Buckinghamshire. The Un ...

had bought the manor and the two men together built stables and kennels there. Aboout northwest of the hamlet, an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

marks the grave of a favourite

foxhound A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their barking, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usually on ho ...

History

References

Sources

External links