Alkerton, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Alkerton is a village about 5 miles (8 km) west of Banbury
in Oxfordshire
, on the county boundary with Warwickshire
.
records that in 1086 Alkerton had two main manors
. Miles Crispin
held the larger manor as part of the Honour of Wallingford
. Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William the Conqueror's
half-brother, held the smaller manor.
of Saint Michael
are the lower stages of the central bell tower
, which date from the 12th century in the Transitional style between Norman
and Early English Gothic. Towards the end of the 12th century the south aisle was added, linked with the nave
by an Early English Gothic arcade
of two bays
. Early in the 13th century the east and west arches of the central tower were replaced with Early English Gothic ones. A stone effigy of a knight in an early 13th century style was presumably added about the same time. Early in the 14th century the upper stages of the bell tower were built and the nave was rebuilt. Late in the 14th century a clerestory
was added to the nave. The exterior of the clerestory is elaborately decorated with figures of men and animals carved from Hornton
stone. The style of carving belongs to a school of 14th century north Oxfordshire masons whose work survives also at Adderbury
, Bloxham
and Hanwell
. Early in the 17th century the rector
, the mathematician Thomas Lydiat
, had the chancel rebuilt in the Perpendicular Gothic style. In 1889 the architect J.A. Cossins restored the church building and added an organ chamber south of the tower and east of the south aisle.
The tower has a chime
of four bells but they are not currently ringable. The oldest bell was cast in about 1400 and another was cast in 1618.
St. Michael's is now one of eight ecclesiastical parishes in the Ironstone Benefice.
built in 1625.
By 1624 Alkerton had a watermill
, presumably on Sor Brook. It was absent from village records by 1778.
An open field system
prevailed in the parish until 1777, when an Act of Parliament
was passed for its common land
s to be enclosed
.
The main road between Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon
passes through the northeast part of the former parish of Alkerton. It was made into a turnpike
in 1743-44. Since the 1920's it has been classified as part of the A422 road
.
In 1782 Alkerton had a public house
, the White Lion.
An elementary school was established in Alkerton as a National School
, but it failed to attract as many children as it was intended to serve. In 1905 it was closed and its children were transferred to the larger National School in neighbouring Shenington
.
By 1959 the Oxfordshire Ironstone Company
was a major owner of land around Alkerton.
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, on the county boundary with Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
.
Manor
The Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
records that in 1086 Alkerton had two main manors
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
. Miles Crispin
Miles Crispin
Miles Crispin , also known as Miles or Milo of Wallingford, was a wealthy Norman landowner, particularly associated with Wallingford Castle in Berkshire...
held the larger manor as part of the Honour of Wallingford
Honour of Wallingford
The Honour of Wallingford was a medieval English honour located circa 1066 to 1540 in present-day Oxfordshire.The Honour of Wallingford was established after the Norman conquest of England, which began in 1066. The Honour initially encompassed Wallingford and Harpsden and thereafter gained...
. Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William the Conqueror's
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
half-brother, held the smaller manor.
Parish church
The oldest parts of the Church of England parish churchChurch 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 the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
are the lower stages of the central bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
, which date from the 12th century in the Transitional style between Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
and Early English Gothic. Towards the end of the 12th century the south aisle was added, linked with the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
by an Early English Gothic arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
of two bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. Early in the 13th century the east and west arches of the central tower were replaced with Early English Gothic ones. A stone effigy of a knight in an early 13th century style was presumably added about the same time. Early in the 14th century the upper stages of the bell tower were built and the nave was rebuilt. Late in the 14th century a clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
was added to the nave. The exterior of the clerestory is elaborately decorated with figures of men and animals carved from Hornton
Hornton
Hornton is a village and civil parish about northwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Churches:The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist are the nave and the arcade of the north aisle, both of which were built late in the 12th century. They are in the...
stone. The style of carving belongs to a school of 14th century north Oxfordshire masons whose work survives also at Adderbury
Adderbury
Adderbury is a large village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire, England. It is about south of Banbury and from Junction 10 of the M40 motorway. The village is divided in two by the Sor Brook. The village consists of two neighbourhoods: West Adderbury and East Adderbury...
, Bloxham
Bloxham
Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire on the edge of the Cotswolds, southwest of Banbury.-Early settlement:Under Roman rule between the 1st and 5th centuries there were several farms and a burial site in the Bloxham area....
and Hanwell
Hanwell, Oxfordshire
Hanwell is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, northwest of Banbury.-Early history:Remains of a substantial Roman villa have been found just west of the B4100 main road....
. Early in the 17th century the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, the mathematician Thomas Lydiat
Thomas Lydiat
Thomas Lydiat was a clergyman and mathematician in England. In his time he was noted as a chronologer and was an opponent in controversy of Scaliger...
, had the chancel rebuilt in the Perpendicular Gothic style. In 1889 the architect J.A. Cossins restored the church building and added an organ chamber south of the tower and east of the south aisle.
The tower has a chime
Chime (bell instrument)
A carillon-like instrument with fewer than 23 bells is called a chime.American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. Many chimes play an automated piece of music. Prior to 1900, chime bells typically lacked dynamic variation and the inner tuning required to permit the use of...
of four bells but they are not currently ringable. The oldest bell was cast in about 1400 and another was cast in 1618.
St. Michael's is now one of eight ecclesiastical parishes in the Ironstone Benefice.
Social and economic history
Thomas Lydiat was descended from Christopher Lydiat of London, who bought Alkerton manor house in 1567. Thomas Lydiat became rector of Alkerton in 1612 and had the rectoryRectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
built in 1625.
By 1624 Alkerton had a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, presumably on Sor Brook. It was absent from village records by 1778.
An open field system
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
prevailed in the parish until 1777, when an Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....
was passed for its common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s to be enclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
.
The main road between Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
passes through the northeast part of the former parish of Alkerton. It was made into a turnpike
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
in 1743-44. Since the 1920's it has been classified as part of the A422 road
A422 road
The A422 is an "A" road for east-west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, is a narrow single carriageway....
.
In 1782 Alkerton had a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the White Lion.
An elementary school was established in Alkerton as a National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
, but it failed to attract as many children as it was intended to serve. In 1905 it was closed and its children were transferred to the larger National School in neighbouring Shenington
Shenington
Shenington is a village about west of Banbury. It was an exclave of Gloucestershire until the Counties Act 1844 transferred it to Oxfordshire. Shenington is on Oxfordshire's boundary with Warwickshire.-Manor:...
.
By 1959 the Oxfordshire Ironstone Company
Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway
The Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway was a standard gauge mineral railway that served an ironstone quarry near the village of Wroxton in Oxfordshire.-The line's History:...
was a major owner of land around Alkerton.