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

in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...

, England, just over east of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 939.

Early history

The ancient Ridgeway path runs through the village. The section of the Ridgeway west of the village follows the ancient

Grim's Ditch Grim's Ditch, Grim's Dyke (also Grimsdyke or Grimes Dike in derivative names) or Grim's Bank is a name shared by a number of prehistoric bank and ditch linear earthworks across England. They are of different dates and may have had different funct ...

, which is a

Scheduled Ancient 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, visu ...

. The earliest known records that refer to Nuffield by name are from the early decades of the 13th century, when episcopal registers variously record 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 ...

as ''Togfelde'', ''Toufeld'' or ''Tofelde''. The ecclesiastical valuation prepared in 1254 by Walter Suffield,

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...

for

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

records it as ''Todfeld''. A

feudal aid Feudal aid is the legal term for one of the financial duties required of a feudal tenant or vassal to his lord. Variations on the feudal aid were collected in England, France, Germany and Italy during the Middle Ages, although the exact circumstan ...

prepared in 1428 records it as ''Tuffeld''. At a later date the first letter changed from T to N to create the modern form of the name. The name comes from

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 ...

, possibly ''hōh-feld'' meaning "field by a spur of hill".

Parish church

The oldest 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 the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

are Norman. They include the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

and some of the masonry in the south wall of 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 ...

. Around the bowl of the font is a

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 in Lombardic capitals. In the 14th century the church was rebuilt and the north

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, ...

was added. In the 15th century a ceiling with moulded wooden beams and carved wooden bosses was inserted in the nave. In 1845 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 ...

was restored and the Gothic

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

in all the windows was replaced, to designs by Gothic Revival architect

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey List of Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1 April 1810 – 22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic revival architecture, Gothic Re ...

. 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 ...

Economic and social history

The road between

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

and Wallingford passes through the parish just north of Nuffield. It was made into a turnpike in 1736 and ceased to be a turnpike in 1873. It is now classified as the A4130. Huntercombe Place is an

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

Tudor-style house designed by

Oswald Milne Oswald Partridge Milne Royal Society of Arts, FRSA Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (February 1881 – 15 January 1968) was a British architect. Biography Born in Balham, London, in February 1881, Milne was the son of the archit ...

, a former assistant to the

Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

architect

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

and completed in 1910. Huntercombe Place is now part of HMYOI Huntercombe. Nuffield Place is a house that was completed in 1914. Lord Nuffield had it enlarged in 1933 and lived there until his death in 1963. He was buried at the parish church, and bequeathed Nuffield Place and its contents to

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

as a museum. The college has in turn given the house and part of the estate to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. There was a 17th-century

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

in the parish, The Crown, on the A4130 main road at Nuffield Common. By September 2016 it had ceased trading and its freehold was for sale.

Amenities

Huntercombe Golf Club is in the parish.

The Ridgeway The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Gori ...

is now a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

. Another long-distance footpath, the Chiltern Way, passes through the northern part of the parish. Thames Travel bus route X38 links Nuffield with Wallingford and

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 ...

in one direction and Henley and

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

in the other. It stops on the A4130 main road between Nuffield Place and The Crown former pub. Buses run generally hourly from Mondays to Saturdays. There is no Sunday service.

Gallery

File:Nuffield HolyTrinity nave.jpg, Inside the nave of Holy Trinity parish church, looking east to the chancel (right) and north arcade (centre) File:Nuffield TheCrown sign.jpg, The former Crown pub on Gangsdown Hill, pictured before being reopened as a café and makerspace.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Nuffield Parish Council
{{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire