Towersey

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Towersey
Towersey Church in the Snow - geograph.org.uk - 352062.jpg
St Catherine's parish church
Oxfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Towersey
Location within Oxfordshire
Area5.57 km2 (2.15 sq mi)
Population433 (2011 Census)
•  Density 78/km2 (200/sq mi)
OS grid reference SP7305
Civil parish
  • Towersey
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Historic county
  • Buckinghamshire
Post town Thame
Postcode district OX9
Dialling code 01844
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
UK Parliament
Website Towersey Village
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°44′28″N0°56′13″W / 51.741°N 0.937°W / 51.741; -0.937 Coordinates: 51°44′28″N0°56′13″W / 51.741°N 0.937°W / 51.741; -0.937

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 [1] until 1933, when the county boundary was moved and Towersey was exchanged for Kingsey. [2] The 2011 Census recorded Towersey parish's population as 433. [3]

Contents

Toponym

The toponym "Towersey" is derived from Old and Middle English. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as simply Eia, meaning "island". This refers to a dry area of land in the marshes of the Aylesbury Vale, on the edge of which the village stands. [4] A manuscript of 1174 records Kingsey also as simply Eya, but thereafter both toponyms gained prefixes to distinguish the two villages. A manuscript of 1194 refers to Kingseie, which has evolved into "Kingsey". Mid-13th-century records refer to Turrisey and Tureseye, which has evolved into "Towersey". It means "island of de Turs", referring to Richard de Turs, who held the manor from 1252. [5]

Parish church

The earliest part of the Church of England parish church of Saint Catherine is its 13th-century Early English Gothic chancel. [6] The nave was rebuilt early in the 14th century and is Decorated Gothic. [7] In 1850–54 the church was restored under the direction of the architect James Cranston, who added the bell tower in its slightly unusual position on the south side of the nave. [7] The tower has a ring of four bells. Ellis I Knight of Reading, Berkshire cast the second, third and tenor bells in 1627. Richard Keene of Woodstock cast the treble bell in 1695. St Catherine's also has a Sanctus bell that Keene cast in 1699. [8] St Catherine's is now one of eight parishes in the Benefice of Thame. [9]

Railway

Phoenix Trail signpost in Towersey Phoenix Trail.jpg
Phoenix Trail signpost in Towersey

In 1859 the Wycombe Railway began to be extended through Towersey parish from High Wycombe to Thame. [10] crossing Chinnor Road on a bridge just south of the village. The line opened in 1862. [11] In 1864 the line was extended again from Thame to Oxford. [12] Thame was the nearest station until 1933, when the Great Western Railway opened Towersey Halt on the west side of the bridge. [10] British Railways withdrew passenger services in January 1963 [13] and freight services to Thame in 1991. The track has since been lifted. The former railway bridge with its steel span over Chinnor Road survives. The trackbed has been converted into the Phoenix Trail for cycling, horseriding and walking between Prince's Risborough and Thame.

Amenities

Part of Towersey Festival in 2006 Towersey music festival (4) - geograph.org.uk - 1671760.jpg
Part of Towersey Festival in 2006

Towersey has a public house, the Three Horseshoes. [14] The village is the setting for the Towersey Village Festival which is a festival of folk music and dance. It was founded in 1965 and is held annually on August bank holiday weekend. Its foundation was followed by the foundation in 1966 of a Cotswold Morris side, Towersey Morris, which still performs today. [15]

Related Research Articles

Stowe, Buckinghamshire Human settlement in England

Stowe is a civil parish and former village about 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Buckingham in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport.

Ickford Human settlement in England

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.

Kingsey Human settlement in England

Kingsey is a small village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is near the boundary with Oxfordshire, about two miles east of Thame and a mile south of Haddenham.

Saunderton Human settlement in England

Saunderton is a village in the Saunderton Valley in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, England, in the civil parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton. The village consists of three main areas: a linear settlement along Bledlow Road about 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) southwest of Princes Risborough, Saunderton Lee, about 1+1⁄2 miles (2 km) further south and a residential area on the A4010 road around Saunderton railway station, about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) northwest of High Wycombe. This residential area, unlike the other two parts of the village, is in the HP14 postcode district, meaning its post town is High Wycombe, not Princes Risborough, the boundary between the two post towns passing just south of Grange Farm.

Worminghall Human settlement in England

Worminghall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England.

Watlington, Oxfordshire Human settlement in England

Watlington is a small market town and civil parish about 7 miles (11 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the county's eastern edge and less than 2 miles (3 km) from its border with Buckinghamshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Christmas Common, Greenfield and Howe Hill, all of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,727.

Lower Heyford Human settlement in England

Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Bicester. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 492.

Chinnor Human settlement in England

Chinnor is a large village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Thame. 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.

Mollington, Oxfordshire Human settlement in England

Mollington is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 479.

Charlton-on-Otmoor Village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England

Charlton-on-Otmoor is a village and civil parish about 9 miles (14 km) NE of Oxford and 6 miles (10 km) SW of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village, one of the seven "towns" of Otmoor, is on the northern edge of the moor on a ridge of Cornbrash. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 449.

Wardington Human settlement in England

Wardington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Banbury. The village consists of two parts: Wardington and Upper Wardington. The village is on a stream that rises in Upper Wardington and flows north to join the River Cherwell.

Kirtlington Human settlement in England

Kirtlington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) west of Bicester. The parish includes the hamlet of Northbrook. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 988.

Stadhampton Human settlement in England

Stadhampton is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. Stadhampton village is on the A329 road and close to the River Thame.

Oddington, Oxfordshire Human settlement in England

Oddington is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village is close to the River Ray on the northern edge of Otmoor. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 129.

Lewknor Human settlement in England

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.

Onibury Human settlement in England

Onibury is a village and civil parish on the River Onny in southern Shropshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of the market town of Ludlow.

Albury, Oxfordshire Human settlement in England

Albury is a village in the civil parish of Tiddington-with-Albury, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Thame in Oxfordshire.

Chesterton, Oxfordshire Human settlement in England

Chesterton is a village and civil parish on Gagle Brook, a tributary of the Langford Brook in north Oxfordshire. The village is about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) southwest of the market town of Bicester. The village has sometimes been called Great Chesterton to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Chesterton, about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) to the south in the same parish. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 850.

Towersey Halt railway station was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway which served the Oxfordshire village of Towersey from 1933 to 1963. The opening of the halt was part of an attempt by the Great Western Railway to encourage more passengers on the line at a time when competition from bus services was drawing away patronage. The possibility of reopening the line through Towersey Halt, which is now part of a long-distance footpath, has been explored by Chiltern Railways, the franchise holder for the Chiltern Main Line which runs through Princes Risborough.

Sandford St. Martin Human settlement in England

Sandford St Martin is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire about 7 miles (11 km) east of Chipping Norton and about 12 miles (19 km) south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 209.

References

  1. ↑ Page 1927, pp. 105-107.
  2. ↑ Great Britain Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Towersey Ch/CP . Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Area: Towersey (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics . Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Ekwall 1940, p. 456.
  5. ↑ Ekwall 1940, pp. 164, 456.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Catherine  (Grade II) (1181108)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 819.
  8. ↑ Davies, Peter (4 February 2015). "Towersey S Catherine". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers . Central Council for Church Bell Ringers . Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Archbishops' Council. "Benefice of Thame". A Church Near You . Church of England . Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  10. 1 2 Hume, Vicky; Hume, Graham. "The History of Towersey Railway Line". Towersey Village. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Oppitz 2000, p. 16.
  12. ↑ Oppitz 2000, p. 17.
  13. ↑ Oppitz 2000, p. 19.
  14. ↑ The Three Horseshoes Towersey
  15. ↑ Towersey Morris

Sources and further reading

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