Aston Rowant
Encyclopedia
Aston Rowant is a village and civil parish about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....

 in South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount
Kingston Blount
Kingston Blount is a village about southeast of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The village is a spring line settlement at the foot of the Chiltern Hills escarpment. The long Ridgeway National Trail passes to the south and the Lower Icknield Way to the north.The Church of England parish...

, and adjoins Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

 to the southeast.

Aston Rowant is close to the ancient Lower Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...

.

Parish

The ancient parish of Aston Rowant was a large strip parish, extending some 6 miles from the southern edge of Thame Park in the north west to Beacon's Bottom
Beacon's Bottom
Beacon's Bottom is a hamlet on the A40 between Piddington and Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire, England....

 in the Chilterns to the south east. It included the village of Stokenchurch
Stokenchurch
Stokenchurch is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, about south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire and west of High Wycombe. The village is a popular place to live, due to its rural location and ease of access to London and Birmingham...

, which became a separate parish in 1844 and joined Buckinghamshire in 1896.

Manor

In 1055 the manor
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...

 of Aston Rowant belonged to the Diocese of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...

. Bishop Stigand
Stigand
Stigand was an English churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England. Although his birthdate is unknown, by 1020, he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 1043, and then later Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury...

 of Winchester had promised to grant Aston Rowant to the Benedictine
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...

 Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...

 but failed to do so. Just before the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

 a Saxon called Wulfstan held the manor. The Domesday Book
Domesday 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 Aston Rowant belonged to 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...

, son-in-law of Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman Conquest, his invasion of England. He died in 1091.-Background:Robert was the son of Walter D'Oyly and elder brother to Nigel D'Oyly...

. Crispin died in 1107 and his widow Maud was married to Brien FitzCount
Brien FitzCount
Brien FitzCount , held the lordships of Wallingford and Abergavenny, and was a staunch supporter of the Empress Matilda during the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign in England in the 1140s.- Illegitimate Birth :He was the illegitimate son of Alan IV, Duke of Brittany...

. FitzCount and Maud supported the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

 during the Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...

, and when King Stephen defeated Matilda both FitzCount and Maud entered religious houses. Stephen gave their estates to Henry, Duke of Normandy
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, thus making Aston Rowant 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...

. Aston Rowant later became part of the Honour of Ewelme
Ewelme
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...

.

Social and economic history

The village school was founded in or before 1833 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...

 for girls, and in 1844 its present premises were built and it became a mixed school. In 1931 it was reorganised as a junior school and in 1951 it became a Church of England school
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...

.

The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway
Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway
The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was a railway branch line between Watlington and Princes Risborough which remained operational for over 88 years between 1872 and 1961....

 was built in 1872 and opened Aston Rowant railway station
Aston Rowant railway station
Aston Rowant railway station was opened in 1872 and was a part of the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. Having closed in 1961, there have been proposals to reopen the station not only to the heritage services of the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, but also National Rail commuter...

 about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) from the village. The Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 operated the line until nationalisation in 1948
Transport Act 1947
The Transport Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under it the railways, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were acquired by the state and handed over to a new British Transport Commission for operation...

. British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways withdrew passenger services in 1957 and closed Aston Rowant goods yard in 1961. The track has since been dismantled.

The railway station has featured in four films:
  • The Captive Heart
    The Captive Heart
    The Captive Heart is a 1946 British war drama, directed by Basil Dearden for Ealing Studios. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...

    (1946)
  • My Brother Jonathan
    My Brother Jonathan
    My Brother Jonathan is a 1948 British drama film directed by Harold French. It starred Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, and James Robertson Justice....

    (1947)
  • My Brother's Keeper
    My Brother's Keeper (1948 film)
    My Brother's Keeper is a 1948 British crime film in the form of a convicts-on-the-run chase thriller, directed by Alfred Roome for Gainsborough Pictures. It was the first of only two films directed by Roome during a long career as a film editor...

    (1948)
  • Portrait of Clare
    Portrait of Clare
    Portrait of Clare is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Margaret Johnston, Richard Todd, Robin Bailey and Ronald Howard.-Cast:* Margaret Johnston - Clare Hingston* Richard Todd - Robert Hart* Robin Bailey - Dudley Wilburn...

    (1950)

Excerpts of these films can be found at The Watlington Branch Line blog.

Parish church

The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church
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 the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, or the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, is a liturgical feast in honour of the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is observed on 29 June...

 are the north and south walls of 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...

, which are 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 from around 1100. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 was rebuilt late in the 13th century in the Decorated style. The 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...

 and north and south aisles were added in the 14th century, also in the Decorated style. In the 15th century natural light in the church was increased by the addition of a window in the north wall and a clerestorey above the nave, both in the Perpendicular style.

The church tower had a spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

 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 stylre roof of the nave was replaced with a new flat one. 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
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:...

 to provide a chamber in which an organ was installed. The architect E.G. Bruton
Edward George Bruton
Edward George Bruton was a British Gothic Revival architect who practiced in Oxford. He was made an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1855 and a Fellow of the RIBA in 1861.-Work:...

 restored the building in 1884. The 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...

 has a peal
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....

 of six bells, the oldest of which was cast in about 1450.

Amenities

Aston Rowant Cricket Club plays in the Home Counties
Home Counties Premier Cricket League
The Home Counties Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Home Counties of England, and since 2000 has been a designated ECB Premier League...

 and Cherwell Leagues.

The Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve, on the Chiltern escarpment, is partly in the parish.
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