Bloxham
Encyclopedia
Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire
on the edge of the Cotswolds
, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Banbury
.
rule between the 1st and 5th centuries there were several farms and a burial site in the Bloxham area.
The toponym
derives from the Old English Blocc's Ham (the home of Blocc) from the 6th century, when a Saxon
settlement was built on the banks of a tributary of the Sor Brook. In 1086 the Domesday Book
called the village Blochesham. Its name was subsequently recorded as Blocchesham in 1142, Blokesham in 1216, and finally Bloxham in 1316.
of Our Lady
is one of the grandest in England. Its 14th century tower and spire
is a local landmark and said to be the highest in Oxfordshire, at 198 feet (60.4 m). The earliest surviving parts of St. Mary's building are 12th century but only fragments remain from this period. Parts of the nave
are 13th century. In the 14th century St. Mary's was altered and ornamented with a great deal of fine stonecarving. In the 15th century the Perpendicular Gothic Milcombe chapel was added . Fragments of Mediaeval wall paintings survive inside St. Mary's, including a Doom painting
over the chancel
arch and Saint Christopher
over the north doorway. Remnants of 14th century stained glass
survive in some of the windows
In 1864-1866 the Gothic Revival architect
G.E. Street
restored St. Mary's. In 1868 Edward Burne-Jones
created a stained glass window of St. Christopher in the chancel and in 1869 William Morris
, Edward Burne-Jones and Philip Webb
created the east window. The church tower
has a ring
of eight bells, including one cast in about 1570 and a tenor bell cast in 1648. St. Mary's benefice is now combined with those of Milcombe
and South Newington
.
In 1067 William the Conqueror
granted St Mary's church and rectory
estate to Westminster Abbey
. In the 12th century Henry II
granted patronage of the church to Godstow Abbey, which led Westminster Abbey to complain to the Pope
. However, the Papacy allowed Godstow to retain the church provided it made an annual payment to Westminster Abbey. With Henry VIII
's dissolution of the monasteries
in the 1530s Bloxham parish church returned to the patronage of the Crown, which granted it to Eton College
in 1547.
There has been a Baptist
congregation in Bloxham since 1682. The current Baptist church was built in 1862 and enlarged in 2001. A Methodist
chapel was built about 1870 but it is now a theatre
belonging to Bloxham School
. Bloxham School has a large Anglican chapel which is used for school services.
register in 1377 recorded a population of 403. At this time the north and south of the village were quite separate, called in Anglo-Norman
le Crowhead Ville and le Downe End.
The royal manor
of Bloxham was divided in 1155. In 1269 the half later known as Bloxham Beauchamp was given to Queen Eleanor
, later being bestowed upon Edward III
’s chamberlain
Roger de Beauchamp and sold in 1545 to Richard Fiennes, 6th Baron Saye and Sele
. The other half was passed to Amaury de St. Amand, becoming known as Saint Amand
’s, and was subsequently sold to Thomas Wykeham and was reunited with Bloxham Beauchamp when inherited by Baron Saye and Sele, known as Bloxham Fiennes. Beauchamp Manor stood roughly on the site of Park Close and the Manor of St. Amand was on the area now occupied by Godswell House. Although neither manor remains the dovecote
of St. Amands is still visible next to Dovecote House.
In a corner of St Mary's churchyard is the Court House, rebuilt in the 1680s and retaining some 14th century details. The Court House is now Bloxham Museum.
The Mediaeval street plan survives in the narrow winding alleys where some houses retain a mediaeval core hidden by later exteriors and alterations. Many of the present street names derive from families living in Bloxham in the early 16th century, e.g. Humber, Job and Budd Lane; although these may remain from mediaeval times they were not documented until 1700. Bloxham contains a large number of well-built yeoman
’s houses dating from this period, for example Bennetts, Seal Cottage and the Joiners Arms. Many have been comparatively little altered, retaining their original details and plans.
Bloxham Grove Mill is a small post mill
about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the village, on a hill overlooking Sor Brook and Bodicote
village. It was recorded as "derelict" in 1969 but had been restored by 1991.
The main road between Banbury and Chipping Norton passes through Bloxham. In 1770 it was made into a turnpike
. In 1815 the turnpike's trustees straightened the main road to follow its current course. They bought two cottages on the brook and demolished them to make the High Street bridge. The main road ceased to be a turnpike in 1871. In 1922 it was classified as the A361 road
.
In the 19th century many houses such as those in Sycamore Terrace were used as weavers cottages. From the Middle Ages
the area around Banbury was known for weaving a distinct type of cloth called "Plush" or "Shag". The fabric was made of wool or worsted and linen, the finer types also incorporating silk or mohair; the material was used in a wide variety of ways from horse girths to furnishing fabrics.
All Saints School (Bloxham School
) was founded in 1853. It closed for a period, but the Rev. P.R. Edgerton
re-opened it in 1860. In 1896 All Saints joined the Woodard Corporation. The main school building, designed in the neo-Gothic style by George Edmund Street
, dominates the north of the village. The headmaster
's house is on top of Hob Hill, above the Pig Sty playing fields, so called after their use during the Second World War
to provide meat for the school.
In 1875 the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
opened a railway station
on the south side of Bloxham. The B&CDR contracted the Great Western Railway
to operate the line and station in return for a share of the receipts. The GWR took over the smaller company in 1897. British Rail
ways closed Bloxham station
in 1951 and closed the railway completely in 1964. Houses in Bloxham in Hyde Grove, Orchard Grove and on the south side of Colesbourne Road occupy the site of the former Bloxham railway station and trackbed.
origin, denotes someone invested with a fief, which was often heritable land or property but could be rights or revenue. Comprising between 8 and 16 local yeomen, the Feoffees were responsible for the wellbeing of the village community. In return for helping the poor and services such as repairing the bridges they were bequeathed money and land by the Crown. Until the last century they continued their village maintenance despite being replaced by a parish council after the Local Government Act 1894
and even today they give financial assistance to Bloxham residents. The Feoffees own land in Grove Road (which is now rented to the Warriner School), the old allotment field in South Newington Road and the Old Court House.
From the 17th century Nonconformism
prospered and was closely associated with the dissenting movement in Banbury. During the English Civil War
the Fiennes family of Bloxham was strongly Parliamentarian
and the area had a reputation as a Puritan
stronghold. There are suggestions that houses in Sycamore Terrace were used as barracks during this time, but this is unsubstantiated.
The 19th century saw the demolition of institutions for the poor such as the Almshouses next to the parish church, the Workhouse
, the pest house
, which stood near the railway line and the poor-houses on the green. The late 19th century saw an expansion of residential housing to the north of the village in Strawberry Terrace and along the Banbury Road.
The agricultural depression of the late 19th and early 20th century led to a decline in the population and some emigration
. This period saw a marked increase in poor relief, mainly as a result of successive poor laws including the Speenhamland system which exacerbated the effect of the Enclosure of land and the decline in the wool market. However the industrial
boom in Banbury brought prosperity back to Bloxham.
In 1960 the countryside to the east and north of Bloxham was threatened by a proposal to quarry
iron ore from the marlstone. A huge united effort went into fighting the works at the Oxfordshire Ironstone Enquiry. The argument that the area was not one of natural beauty resulted in some photographs being commissioned of the area at this time (see left). The protest was successful, uniting the area in appreciation of its countryside.
Production versions of the rare Jaguar XJ220
supercar
were produced at Wykham Mill in Bloxham from 1992 until 1994. The Ford Motor Company
transferred the factory to Aston Martin
for production of the DB7
from 1994 until the factory’s closure in 2004. Wykham Mill is now the Vantage Business Park, named after the DB7 V12 Vantage which was the last Aston Martin model to be built on the site.
in Banbury Road is a technology college
for pupils 11–16 years old.
Bloxham has three public house
s:
Bloxham has a post office
, petrol station and several shops.
Bloxham Football Club men's team plays in Division Two of the Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA
league. Bloxham FC has also a youth team, ten boys' teams and two girls' teams.
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
on the edge of the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Banbury
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...
.
Early settlement
Under RomanRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
rule between the 1st and 5th centuries there were several farms and a burial site in the Bloxham area.
The toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
derives from the Old English Blocc's Ham (the home of Blocc) from the 6th century, when a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
settlement was built on the banks of a tributary of the Sor Brook. In 1086 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...
called the village Blochesham. Its name was subsequently recorded as Blocchesham in 1142, Blokesham in 1216, and finally Bloxham in 1316.
Churches
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 Our Lady
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
is one of the grandest in England. Its 14th century tower and spire
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
is a local landmark and said to be the highest in Oxfordshire, at 198 feet (60.4 m). The earliest surviving parts of St. Mary's building are 12th century but only fragments remain from this period. Parts 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...
are 13th century. In the 14th century St. Mary's was altered and ornamented with a great deal of fine stonecarving. In the 15th century the Perpendicular Gothic Milcombe chapel was added . Fragments of Mediaeval wall paintings survive inside St. Mary's, including a Doom painting
Doom (painting)
A Doom is a traditional English term for a painting or other image of the Last Judgment, an event in Christian eschatology. Christ judges souls, and then sends them to either Heaven or Hell...
over 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...
arch and Saint Christopher
Saint Christopher
.Saint Christopher is a saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian...
over the north doorway. Remnants of 14th century stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
survive in some of the windows
In 1864-1866 the Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
G.E. Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
restored St. Mary's. In 1868 Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
created a stained glass window of St. Christopher in the chancel and in 1869 William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
, Edward Burne-Jones and Philip Webb
Philip Webb
Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....
created the east window. The church 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 ring
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 eight bells, including one cast in about 1570 and a tenor bell cast in 1648. St. Mary's benefice is now combined with those of Milcombe
Milcombe
Milcombe is a village and civil parish about southwest of Banbury, Oxfordshire.-History:The Church of England parish church of Saint Laurence was built in the 13th century, but little survives from this period except the west tower. The font is 15th century. In the 19th century the building was in...
and South Newington
South Newington
South Newington is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England, about southwest of Banbury.-Manors:...
.
In 1067 William the Conqueror
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...
granted St Mary's church and rectory
Rectory
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...
estate to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. In the 12th century Henry II
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...
granted patronage of the church to Godstow Abbey, which led Westminster Abbey to complain to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. However, the Papacy allowed Godstow to retain the church provided it made an annual payment to Westminster Abbey. With Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in the 1530s Bloxham parish church returned to the patronage of the Crown, which granted it to Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
in 1547.
There has been a Baptist
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, despite its name, is the association of Baptist churches in England and Wales. -History:...
congregation in Bloxham since 1682. The current Baptist church was built in 1862 and enlarged in 2001. A Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
chapel was built about 1870 but it is now a theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
belonging to Bloxham School
Bloxham School
Bloxham School is an independent co-educational day and boarding school located in the village of Bloxham, three miles from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1860 by the Reverend Philip Reginald Egerton and has since become a member of the Woodard Corporation...
. Bloxham School has a large Anglican chapel which is used for school services.
Secular buildings
The Domesday survey of 1086 recorded Blochesham as having six mills and trading in wool and corn. After the Norman Conquest Bloxham continued to expand, and a poll taxPoll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
register in 1377 recorded a population of 403. At this time the north and south of the village were quite separate, called in Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman language
Anglo-Norman is the name traditionally given to the kind of Old Norman used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period....
le Crowhead Ville and le Downe End.
The royal 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 Bloxham was divided in 1155. In 1269 the half later known as Bloxham Beauchamp was given to Queen Eleanor
Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....
, later being bestowed upon Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
’s chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
Roger de Beauchamp and sold in 1545 to Richard Fiennes, 6th Baron Saye and Sele
Baron Saye and Sele
Baron Saye and Sele is a title in the Peerage of England. It is thought to have been created by letters patent in 1447 for James Fiennes for his services in the Hundred Years' War. The patent creating the original barony was lost, so it was assumed that the barony was created by writ, meaning that...
. The other half was passed to Amaury de St. Amand, becoming known as Saint Amand
Saint Amand
Saint Amand or Amandus was a French Christian saint, one of the great Christian Saints of Flanders.-Biography:...
’s, and was subsequently sold to Thomas Wykeham and was reunited with Bloxham Beauchamp when inherited by Baron Saye and Sele, known as Bloxham Fiennes. Beauchamp Manor stood roughly on the site of Park Close and the Manor of St. Amand was on the area now occupied by Godswell House. Although neither manor remains the dovecote
Dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...
of St. Amands is still visible next to Dovecote House.
In a corner of St Mary's churchyard is the Court House, rebuilt in the 1680s and retaining some 14th century details. The Court House is now Bloxham Museum.
The Mediaeval street plan survives in the narrow winding alleys where some houses retain a mediaeval core hidden by later exteriors and alterations. Many of the present street names derive from families living in Bloxham in the early 16th century, e.g. Humber, Job and Budd Lane; although these may remain from mediaeval times they were not documented until 1700. Bloxham contains a large number of well-built yeoman
Yeoman
Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
’s houses dating from this period, for example Bennetts, Seal Cottage and the Joiners Arms. Many have been comparatively little altered, retaining their original details and plans.
Bloxham Grove Mill is a small post mill
Post mill
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...
about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the village, on a hill overlooking Sor Brook and Bodicote
Bodicote
Bodicote is a village and civil parish south of the centre of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-History:A windmill that stood next to the grove at the top of Bodicote is mentioned in the Domesday Book of AD 1086...
village. It was recorded as "derelict" in 1969 but had been restored by 1991.
The main road between Banbury and Chipping Norton passes through Bloxham. In 1770 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 1815 the turnpike's trustees straightened the main road to follow its current course. They bought two cottages on the brook and demolished them to make the High Street bridge. The main road ceased to be a turnpike in 1871. In 1922 it was classified as the A361 road
A361 road
The A361 is a major road in England and at is the longest 3 digit A road in the UK. It runs south from Ilfracombe on the north Devon coast to Barnstaple, turning south-east to Tiverton then, after a break , north east from Taunton in Somerset through Street and Glastonbury, past Frome and then...
.
In the 19th century many houses such as those in Sycamore Terrace were used as weavers cottages. From the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
the area around Banbury was known for weaving a distinct type of cloth called "Plush" or "Shag". The fabric was made of wool or worsted and linen, the finer types also incorporating silk or mohair; the material was used in a wide variety of ways from horse girths to furnishing fabrics.
All Saints School (Bloxham School
Bloxham School
Bloxham School is an independent co-educational day and boarding school located in the village of Bloxham, three miles from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1860 by the Reverend Philip Reginald Egerton and has since become a member of the Woodard Corporation...
) was founded in 1853. It closed for a period, but the Rev. P.R. Edgerton
Philip Reginald Egerton
The Reverend Philip Reginald Egerton was an English schoolmaster, priest, cricketer and founder of Bloxham School in Oxfordshire, England. Egerton was educated at Winchester School, where he was school captain, and New College, Oxford...
re-opened it in 1860. In 1896 All Saints joined the Woodard Corporation. The main school building, designed in the neo-Gothic style by George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
, dominates the north of the village. The headmaster
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
's house is on top of Hob Hill, above the Pig Sty playing fields, so called after their use during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to provide meat for the school.
In 1875 the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway is a former railway in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, England.-Origins and development:...
opened a railway station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
on the south side of Bloxham. The B&CDR contracted 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...
to operate the line and station in return for a share of the receipts. The GWR took over the smaller company in 1897. 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 closed Bloxham station
Bloxham railway station
Bloxham railway station served the village of Bloxham in northern Oxfordshire, England.- History :The station was built by the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, which was taken over by the Great Western Railway before its opening....
in 1951 and closed the railway completely in 1964. Houses in Bloxham in Hyde Grove, Orchard Grove and on the south side of Colesbourne Road occupy the site of the former Bloxham railway station and trackbed.
Social and economic history
Around the time of the Norman Conquest a group called the Bloxham Feoffees formed. The name, of Anglo-NormanAnglo-Norman language
Anglo-Norman is the name traditionally given to the kind of Old Norman used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period....
origin, denotes someone invested with a fief, which was often heritable land or property but could be rights or revenue. Comprising between 8 and 16 local yeomen, the Feoffees were responsible for the wellbeing of the village community. In return for helping the poor and services such as repairing the bridges they were bequeathed money and land by the Crown. Until the last century they continued their village maintenance despite being replaced by a parish council after the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
and even today they give financial assistance to Bloxham residents. The Feoffees own land in Grove Road (which is now rented to the Warriner School), the old allotment field in South Newington Road and the Old Court House.
From the 17th century Nonconformism
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
prospered and was closely associated with the dissenting movement in Banbury. During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
the Fiennes family of Bloxham was strongly Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
and the area had a reputation as a Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
stronghold. There are suggestions that houses in Sycamore Terrace were used as barracks during this time, but this is unsubstantiated.
The 19th century saw the demolition of institutions for the poor such as the Almshouses next to the parish church, the Workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
, the pest house
Pest house
In the past, a pest house or pesthouse was a hospital or hostel used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, or smallpox...
, which stood near the railway line and the poor-houses on the green. The late 19th century saw an expansion of residential housing to the north of the village in Strawberry Terrace and along the Banbury Road.
The agricultural depression of the late 19th and early 20th century led to a decline in the population and some emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
. This period saw a marked increase in poor relief, mainly as a result of successive poor laws including the Speenhamland system which exacerbated the effect of the Enclosure of land and the decline in the wool market. However the industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
boom in Banbury brought prosperity back to Bloxham.
In 1960 the countryside to the east and north of Bloxham was threatened by a proposal to quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
iron ore from the marlstone. A huge united effort went into fighting the works at the Oxfordshire Ironstone Enquiry. The argument that the area was not one of natural beauty resulted in some photographs being commissioned of the area at this time (see left). The protest was successful, uniting the area in appreciation of its countryside.
Production versions of the rare Jaguar XJ220
Jaguar XJ220
The Jaguar XJ220 is a mid-engined supercar produced by Jaguar in collaboration with Tom Walkinshaw Racing as Jaguar Sport between 1992 and 1994. It held the record for the highest top speed of a production car , until the arrival of the McLaren F1 in 1994...
supercar
Supercar
Supercar is a term used most often to describe an expensive high end car. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car"...
were produced at Wykham Mill in Bloxham from 1992 until 1994. The Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
transferred the factory to Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
for production of the DB7
Aston Martin DB7
The Aston Martin DB7 is a grand tourer which was produced by Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. The grand tourer was available either as a coupé or a convertible. The prototype was complete by November 1992, and debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 1993, the car was styled by...
from 1994 until the factory’s closure in 2004. Wykham Mill is now the Vantage Business Park, named after the DB7 V12 Vantage which was the last Aston Martin model to be built on the site.
Amenities
Bloxham has two County schools. Bloxham Church of England primary school in Tadmarton Road is for pupils 5–11 years old. The Warriner SchoolThe Warriner School, Bloxham
The Warriner School is a secondary school which opened in 1971 and is situated on the Bloxham Road in Bloxham, Oxfordshire. The school has 1,114 pupils in the 11–16 range. It has Technology College status and serves the villages in the northern half of the Cherwell District...
in Banbury Road is a technology college
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
for pupils 11–16 years old.
Bloxham has three 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...
s:
- The Elephant & Castle, a 17th century former coaching innCoaching innIn Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
in Humber Street (Hook Norton BreweryHook Norton BreweryHook Norton Brewery is a regional brewery in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England, founded in 1849. The brewing plant is a traditional Victorian "tower" brewery in which all the stages of the brewing process flow logically from floor to floor; mashing at the top, boiling in the middle, fermentation...
) - The Joiners Arms, a 16th century building in Old Bridge Road (a gastropubGastropubGastropub or Gastrolounge refers to a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food.The term gastropub, a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, originated in England in the late 20th century. English pubs were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. If...
) - The Red Lion, a 19th century building in High Street (Fuller's Brewery)
Bloxham has a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, petrol station and several shops.
Bloxham Football Club men's team plays in Division Two of the Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA
Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA
The Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA is a football competition based in Oxfordshire, England. The league has a total of four divisions, of which the highest, the Premier Division, sits at level 13 of the English football league system and is a feeder to the Oxfordshire Senior Football League.-...
league. Bloxham FC has also a youth team, ten boys' teams and two girls' teams.
External links
- Bloxham Village Website, Ed. Dr. Matthew Laight
- Bloxham Broadsheet - Monthly news-sheet and recent archive
- Walks in and around Bloxham
- Bloxham Film Society website
- Bloxham Museum
- Bloxham Village Guide on the Banbury Cross Website
- "Lofty ambitions" — article about St Mary's church by Tim Healey (from Oxfordshire Limited Edition)
- "End of line for 007's super car", Banbury Guardian, 5 Dec 2003
- "Business booms at former car plant", Banbury Guardian, 15 May 2004
- "Bloxham Conservation Area" Appraisal by Cherwell District Council