Aston Rowant | |
---|---|
![]() SS Peter and Paul parish church | |
Location within Oxfordshire | |
Area | 11.82 km2 (4.56 sq mi) |
Population | 793 (parish, including Kingston Blount) (2011 Census) |
• Density | 67/km2 (170/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SU7299 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Watlington |
Postcode district | OX49 |
Dialling code | 01844 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Oxfordshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Aston Rowant Parish Council |
Aston Rowant (anciently Aston Rohant)[ citation needed ] is a village, civil parish and former manor about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) south of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount, and adjoins Buckinghamshire to the southeast. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 793. [1] The Lower Icknield Way passes through the parish southeast of the village.
Toward the end of the 17th century a large Roman vessel, containing five smaller ones, was found at Kingston Blount. [2] In 1971 a hoard of late seventh- and early eighth-century silver coins called sceattas was found on the Chiltern escarpment, near where the A40 road crosses the Icknield Way. In 1972 the hoard was reported to total 175 coins, [3] by 1994 the total was 350, and either case it was then the largest single find of sceattas in Britain. [4] A Coroner's Court determined that the coins are treasure trove, and the British Museum then acquired the hoard. [3]
The hoard is believed to have been hidden in either AD 710 [4] or 710–15. [3] Only about a quarter of the coins were from Anglo-Saxon mints in Britain. The remainder are from mainland Europe, mostly from Merovingian mints around the mouth of the Rhine. The owner may therefore have been a Frisian merchant travelling along the Icknield Way. [4]
In 1055 the Diocese of Winchester held the manor of Aston. Bishop Stigand of Winchester had promised to grant Aston to the Benedictine Abingdon Abbey but failed to do so. Just before the Norman conquest of England a Saxon called Wulfstan held the manor. [5]
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Aston belonged to Miles Crispin, son-in-law of Robert D'Oyly. Crispin died in 1107 and his widow Maud was married to Brien FitzCount. FitzCount and Maud supported the Empress Matilda during the Anarchy, and when King Stephen defeated Matilda both FitzCount and Maud entered religious houses, the latter to Wallingford Priory to whom the grant of the church (glebe and advowson) was made, subsequently appointing its vicar until the dissolution of the monasteries. Stephen granted their estates to Henry, Duke of Normandy, thus making Aston part of the Honour of Wallingford. [5] Aston later became part of the Honour of Ewelme. [5] It later was the seat of the de Rohant family [5] from which the manor gained the name Aston Rohant, today corrupted to Aston Rowant. The heir of de Rohant was the Champernowne family, lords of the manor of Modbury in Devon.
The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul are the north and south walls of the nave, which are Norman and from around 1100. The chancel was rebuilt late in the 13th century [5] in the Decorated Gothic style. [6] The Decorated Gothic bell tower and north and south aisles were added in the 14th century. In the 15th century natural light in the church was increased by the addition of a window in the north wall and a clerestory above the nave, [5] both of which are Perpendicular Gothic. [6]
The church tower had a spire until 1811, when some of the stonework of the tower parapet fell off and the spire was removed during the tower repairs. In 1831 the Perpendicular Gothic roof of the nave was replaced with a new flat one. [5] The chancel was renovated in 1850 and its present east window was inserted in 1856. In 1874 the north aisle was extended westwards by one bay to provide a chamber in which an organ was installed. The architect E.G. Bruton restored the building in 1884. [6]
The tower has a ring of six bells. [5] The oldest is the fourth bell, which Roger Landen of Wokingham, [7] Berkshire cast in about 1450. [8] Ellis I Knight of Reading [7] cast the second, third and tenor bells in 1625. [8] John Warner and Sons of Cripplegate, [7] London cast the fifth bell in 1873 [8] and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the present treble bell in 1975, [8] completing the current ring of six.
Aston Rowant was a large strip parish, more than double its current size, extending about 6 miles (10 km) from the southern edge of Thame Park in the northwest to Beacon's Bottom high in the Chilterns to the southeast. [5] The 1841 Census recorded a parish population greater than today, at 884 people. [2] However the parish included Stokenchurch until 1844. [9]
The village school was founded in or before 1833 as a National School for girls, and in 1844 its present premises were built and it became a mixed school. [5] In 1931 it was reorganised as a junior school and in 1951 it became a Church of England school. [5] [10]
The single-track Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was built in 1872 and opened Aston Rowant railway station about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from the village. The Great Western Railway operated the line until nationalisation in 1948. British Railways withdrew passenger services in 1957 and closed Aston Rowant goods yard in 1961. The track has since been dismantled.
The railway station appears in four feature films:
Excerpts of these films can be found at The Watlington Branch Line YouTube Playlist.
Aston Rowant Cricket Club [11] plays in the Home Counties and Cherwell Leagues. Its ground covers a quarter of the gap between Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount (known as Kingston, locally) and serves both villages' cricketers. Kingston can be reached by direct path or road and has another sports ground next to its allotments. [12] Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve, on the Chiltern escarpment, is partly in the parish.
Garsington is a village and civil parish about 8 kilometres (5 mi) southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire. "A History of the County of Oxfordshire" provides a detailed history of the parish from 1082. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,689. The village is known for the artistic colony and flamboyant social life of the Bloomsbury Group at Garsington Manor when it was the home from 1914 to 1928 of Philip and Ottoline Morrell, and for the Garsington Opera which was staged there from 1989 to 2010.
Ickford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the boundary with Oxfordshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the market town of Thame.
Towersey is a village and civil parish about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) east of Thame in Oxfordshire. Towersey was part of Buckinghamshire until 1933, when the county boundary was moved and Towersey was exchanged for Kingsey. The 2011 Census recorded Towersey parish's population as 433.
Not to be confused with the Nearby Similarly named Wallingford
Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Thame, close to the border with Buckinghamshire. The village is a spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Emmington. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 5,924.
Appleford-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames about 2 miles (3 km) north of Didcot, in the Vale of White Horse district, in Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 350. On 1 April 2000 the civil parish was renamed from "Appleford" to "Appleford on Thames".
Asthall or Asthal is a village and civil parish on the River Windrush in the West Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Witney. It includes the hamlets of Asthall Leigh, Field Assarts, Stonelands, Worsham and part of Fordwells. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 252. Asthall village is just south of the River Windrush, which also forms the south-eastern part of its boundary. The remainder of the parish including all of its hamlets lie north of the river. A minor road through Fordwells forms most of the parish's northern boundary. Most of the remainder of the parish's boundary is formed by field boundaries.
Kingston Blount is a village about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The village is a spring line settlement at the foot of the Chiltern Hills escarpment. The ancient pre-Roman Ridgeway and Icknield Way pass through the parish. The Ridgeway is now a National Trail.
Christmas Common is a hamlet in Watlington civil parish, Oxfordshire about 7+1⁄2 miles (12 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, close to the boundary with Buckinghamshire. The hamlet is 812 feet (247 m) above sea level on an escarpment of the Chiltern Hills. Because of its elevation, Christmas Common has two radio masts that are prominent local landmarks.
Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Witney and about 6 miles (10 km) west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, 1⁄2 mile (800 m) north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960.
Warborough is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Wallingford and about 9 miles (14 km) south of Oxford. The parish also includes the hamlet of Shillingford, south of Warborough beside the River Thames.
Emmington is a village in the civil parish of Chinnor, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about 4.5 miles (7 km) southeast of Thame. In 1931 the parish had a population of 41. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Chinnor.
Lewknor is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The civil parish includes the villages of Postcombe and South Weston. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 663.
Pyrton is a small village and large civil parish in Oxfordshire about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the small town of Watlington and 5 miles (8 km) south of Thame. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 227. The toponym is from the Old English meaning "pear-tree farm".
Swyncombe is a hamlet and large civil parish in the high Chilterns, within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) east of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England. Swyncombe hamlet consists almost entirely of its Church of England parish church of Saint Botolph, the former rectory and Swyncombe House. The population of the parish is in the hamlets of Cookley Green and Russell's Water, and the scattered hamlet of Park Corner. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 250. It is partially forested and is the fifth largest of 87 civil parishes in the District.
Kingston Crossing Halt railway station was a halt on the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway which the Great Western Railway opened in 1906 to serve the Oxfordshire village of Kingston Blount. The opening of the halt was part of a GWR attempt to encourage more passengers on the line at a time when competition from bus services was drawing away custom.
Shirburn is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire. It contains the Grade I listed, 14th-century Shirburn Castle, along with its surrounding, Grade II listed park, and a parish church, the oldest part of which is from the Norman period. The parish has a high altitude by county standards. Its eastern part is in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Shirburn, the largest civil parish in the district, is forested to the south. A motorway cuts across one edge.
Sydenham is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Thame in Oxfordshire. To the south the parish is bounded by the ancient Lower Icknield Way, and on its other sides largely by brooks that merge as Cuttle Brook, a tributary of the River Thame. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 451.
Fritwell is a village and civil parish about 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) northwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 736.
Crowell is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of the market town of Thame and 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the village of Chinnor. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 100. Crowell village is a spring line settlement at the source of a stream called the Pleck at the foot of the Chiltern Hills escarpment. The toponym "Crowell" is derived from the Old English for "crow's spring" or "crow's stream".