Hardwick 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Hardwick with Tusmore, the Cherwell district, in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England, about north 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 � ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 37. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Tusmore to form "Hardwick with Tusmore".

Manor

The village'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 ...

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 a farm or dwelling place for sheep. 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 it as ''Hardewich'' and a charter from AD 1130 records it as ''Herdewic''. After the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

Walter Giffard Walter Giffard (April 1279) was Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York. Family Giffard was a son of Hugh Giffard of Boyton in Wiltshire,Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 6: York: Archbishops' a royal justice, ...

held the manor of Hardwick, but the

records that by 1086 he had given it to

Robert D'Oyly Robert D'Oyly (also spelt Robert D'Oyley de Liseaux, Robert Doyley, Robert de Oiley, Robèrt d'Oilly, Robert D'Oyley and Roberti De Oilgi) was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman conquest, his invasion of En ...

in an exchange of lands. It descended with D'Oyly's heirs until 1232 when it passed to

Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick (1208 – 26 June 1242), Earl of Warwick, Baron of Hocknorton (Hook Norton) and Headington, was the son of Henry de Beaumont, 5th Earl of Warwick and Margaret D'Oili. He was also known as Thomas de H ...

. William Fermor of Somerton bought a third of the manor of Hardwick in 1514 and had acquired the remainder by 1548. The house at Manor Farm was built late in the 16th century. The Fermors usually let it to tenant farmers. It is now 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 ...

. Some of the farmland in the parish seems to have been

enclosed Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

in the 16th century for sheep pasture, but there was still an

open field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acr ...

of three fields by 1601. By 1682 parts of Heath Field and Mill Field had been enclosed, and by 1717 the enclosure of Heath Field was complete. Enclosure of the remainder of the parish was complete well before 1784, when Tinker's Field and the remainder of Mill Field were described as having been enclosed ''"from time immemorial"''. In 1857 Henry Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham bought the estates of Tusmore and Hardwick. In 1869–70 he demolished the old cottages of the village and replaced them with new ones of stone with brick

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

. He built a village school which was finished in 1873, and his heir Henry Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham maintained the school until at least 1895. However, the 3rd Earl died in 1898 and by 1903 the school had closed. It is now a private house.

Church and chapel

Parish church

By the middle of the 12th century the parish was a chapelry of

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 ...

, and by 1249 or 1250 Hardwick had become a separate ecclesiastical parish. The

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

owned the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

by 1252, and held it until

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. ...

suppressed the Order in England in 1540. In 1545

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

sold the advowson to an associate of William Fermor, the lord of the manor. The advowson remained with the Fermors until the middle of the 19th century, when their direct line died out and their estates at Tusmore and Hardwick were sold. The earliest parts 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 ...

of St Mary the Virgin are the north and south doorways. Dr

Mary Lobel Mary Doreen Lobel (née Rogers) (25 June 1900 – 1 December 1993) was a historian who edited several volumes of the ''Victoria County History'' and a three-volume ''British Atlas of Historic Towns''. Biography Lobel was born Mary Doreen Roge ...

says the doorways are from late in the 12th or early in the 13th century, but Sherwood and Pevsner states they are

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 a ...

which would give them a later date of 1250–1350. 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 ...

is Decorated Gothic and certainly from the 14th century. 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 ...

was rebuilt in the 15th century with a large new

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 ...

west window. In 1877 Henry Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham commissioned George Gilbert Scott, Jr. to restore the church. Scott virtually rebuilt it and added the south

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

, porch and bell-turret. The east window of the chancel has some 14th-century

Medieval stained glass Medieval stained glass is the colored and painted glass of Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 10th century to the 16th century. For much of this period stained glass windows were the major pictorial art form, particularly in France in the Middl ...

plus a 19th-century

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

panel by

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

. The Gothic Revival west window of the nave is by

Burlison and Grylls Burlison and Grylls is an English company who produced stained glass windows from 1868 onwards. The company of Burlison and Grylls was founded in 1868 at the instigation of the architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Both John Bur ...

but incorporates late 15th- or early 16th-century Gothic panels. St Mary's is now a member of the

Shelswell Shelswell is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Newton Purcell with Shelswell, in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about south of Brackley in neighbouring Northamptonshire. ...

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 ...

Roman Catholic chapel

The Fermors were

recusants Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

and supported the continuation of

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the area from the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

in the 16th century until after the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3. c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted them to the practice of la ...

. Late in the 16th century and early in the 17th there were few recusants in Hardwick, but after the Fermors moved from Somerton to Tusmore in 1625 their numbers increased. Roman Catholics formed more than half the village by the 1760s and the overwhelming majority by 1802. Roman Catholic villages went to

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at the Fermor chapel in Tusmore until 1768, when Tusmore House was being rebuilt and the chapel was closed for refurbishment. A chapel was then established in the attic of Hardwick Manor Farm, which remained in use for worship until the priest died in 1830. The chapel was succeeded in 1832 by a newly built Roman Catholic church at Hethe, just over east of Hardwick.

References

Sources and further reading

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External links

{{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire Cherwell District