Crowmarsh Gifford
Encyclopedia
Crowmarsh Gifford is a village in the civil parish of Crowmarsh
in South Oxfordshire
. It is beside the River Thames
opposite the market town
of Wallingford, the two being linked via Wallingford Bridge
. Crowmarsh parish also includes the hamlet
of Newnham Murren
, which is now merged with the village; the hamlet of Mongewell
, and the village of North Stoke
2 miles (3.2 km) to the south.
most of the land was granted to Walter Giffard, later Earl of Buckingham
. It later came into the possession of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
and remained with his heirs until passing back to the Crown
. Nearby Newnham Manor was originally granted by William the Conqueror to Miles Crispin
, but by 1428 was owned by Thomas Chaucer
. After his death it was passed to his daughter Alice, wife of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk
. Other land was granted to Battle Abbey
.
The Church of England parish church
of Saint Mary Magdalene
is said to have been built in about 1120. The north door, south door, three windows in the south wall, chancel
arch and font
are all Norman
. A north transept
with a pointed arch was added in about 1200. The building was restored in 1836 and 1868.
In 1139 King Stephen
built a wooden fort in Crowmarsh, the first of a series built in opposition to Wallingford Castle
, which supported his cousin Matilda
during the civil war known as The Anarchy
. The forts were dismantled under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford
of 1153.
In 1701 agriculturist Jethro Tull
invented his revolutionary seed drill
here. In 1770 nearby Mongewell Park was acquired by Shute Barrington
, then Bishop of Llandaff
. He was buried in Mongewell Church. Mongewell Park later became the site for Carmel College. The Jacobethan
country house
Howbery Court (also known as Howbery Park
) in Crowmarsh was built in about 1850 for local MP
William Seymour Blackstone
. It now houses the facilities of HR Wallingford Group. Nearby North Stoke
was the home of Dame Clara Butt
, who was buried here in 1936.
In 1944 a Royal Canadian Air Force
Halifax bomber
with a full bomb load caught fire over Wallingford. Most of the crew bailed out, but Flying Officer Wilding and Sergeant Andrew gave their lives to steer the plane away from the town and crash it into the fields of Crowmarsh. They are commemorated by an obelisk
at the junction of Wilding Road and Andrew Road in Wallingford.
Crowmarsh Gifford is the administrative headquarters of South Oxfordshire
District Council.
Crowmarsh
Crowmarsh is a civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England.-Formation and constituent settlements:The civil parish was formed on 1 April 1932 by the amalgamation of four existing parishes....
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....
. It is beside the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
opposite the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Wallingford, the two being linked via Wallingford Bridge
Wallingford Bridge
Wallingford Bridge is a medieval road bridge over the River Thames in England which connects Wallingford and Crowmarsh Gifford, Oxfordshire . It crosses the Thames on the reach between Cleeve Lock and Benson Lock...
. Crowmarsh parish also includes the hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
of Newnham Murren
Newnham Murren
Newnham Murren is a village in the Thames Valley in South Oxfordshire, about east of the market town of Wallingford. Newnham Murren is in the civil parish of Crowmarsh and is now contiguous with the village of Crowmarsh Gifford.-History:...
, which is now merged with the village; the hamlet of Mongewell
Mongewell
Mongewell is a village in the civil parish of Crowmarsh, about south of Wallingford in Oxfordshire. Mongewell is on the east bank of the Thames, linked with the west bank at Winterbrook by the nearby Winterbrook Bridge...
, and the village of North Stoke
North Stoke, Oxfordshire
North Stoke is a village beside the River Thames in the Crowmarsh civil parish in South Oxfordshire, south of the market town of Wallingford.-Parish church:...
2 miles (3.2 km) to the south.
History
After the Norman Conquest of EnglandNorman 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...
most of the land was granted to Walter Giffard, later Earl of Buckingham
Earl of Buckingham
The peerage title Earl of Buckingham was created several times in the Peerage of England.It was first created in 1097 for Walter Giffard, but became extinct in 1164 with the death of the second earl. It may have been created again in 1164 for Richard de Clare , who died without issue in 1176...
. It later came into the possession of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...
and remained with his heirs until passing back to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. Nearby Newnham Manor was originally granted by William the Conqueror 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...
, but by 1428 was owned by Thomas Chaucer
Thomas Chaucer
Thomas Chaucer was the Speaker of the English House of Commons and son of Geoffrey Chaucer and Philippa Roet.-Life:...
. After his death it was passed to his daughter Alice, wife of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG , nicknamed Jack Napes , was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England.He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2 and other...
. Other land was granted to Battle Abbey
Battle Abbey
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined abbey complex in the small town of Battle in East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the scene of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St...
.
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 Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
is said to have been built in about 1120. The north door, south door, three windows in the south wall, 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 font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
are all 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...
. A north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
with a pointed arch was added in about 1200. The building was restored in 1836 and 1868.
In 1139 King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
built a wooden fort in Crowmarsh, the first of a series built in opposition to Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
, which supported his cousin 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 civil war known as 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...
. The forts were dismantled under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford
Treaty of Wallingford
The Treaty of Wallingford of 1153, aka Treaty of Winchester or as the Treaty of Westminster, was an agreement that effectively ended the civil war known as the Anarchy, caused by a dispute between Empress Matilda and her cousin King Stephen of England over the English crown...
of 1153.
In 1701 agriculturist Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (agriculturist)
Jethro Tull was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe...
invented his revolutionary seed drill
Seed drill
A seed drill is a sowing device that precisely positions seeds in the soil and then covers them. Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by hand. Besides being wasteful, planting was very imprecise and led to a poor distribution of seeds, leading to low...
here. In 1770 nearby Mongewell Park was acquired by Shute Barrington
Shute Barrington
Shute Barrington was an English churchman, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales, as well as Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Durham in England.-Life:...
, then Bishop of Llandaff
Bishop of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...
. He was buried in Mongewell Church. Mongewell Park later became the site for Carmel College. The Jacobethan
Jacobethan
Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance , with elements of Elizabethan and...
country house
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
Howbery Court (also known as Howbery Park
Howbery Park
Howbery Park is a 36-ha park located adjacent to the River Thames in Crowmarsh Gifford near Wallingford, UK. Its main feature is an English manor house built in about 1850 by English Member of Parliament William Seymour Blackstone. Blackstone fell into debt, largely because of the costs of...
) in Crowmarsh was built in about 1850 for local MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
William Seymour Blackstone
William Seymour Blackstone
William Seymour Blackstone was an English MP in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.He was the son of James Blackstone, barrister-at-law of the Middle Temple, and grandson of the legal writer William Blackstone . Elected Conservative MP for Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England in 1832, he served...
. It now houses the facilities of HR Wallingford Group. Nearby North Stoke
North Stoke, Oxfordshire
North Stoke is a village beside the River Thames in the Crowmarsh civil parish in South Oxfordshire, south of the market town of Wallingford.-Parish church:...
was the home of Dame Clara Butt
Clara Butt
Dame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...
, who was buried here in 1936.
In 1944 a Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
Halifax bomber
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
with a full bomb load caught fire over Wallingford. Most of the crew bailed out, but Flying Officer Wilding and Sergeant Andrew gave their lives to steer the plane away from the town and crash it into the fields of Crowmarsh. They are commemorated by an obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
at the junction of Wilding Road and Andrew Road in Wallingford.
Crowmarsh Gifford is the administrative headquarters of South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....
District Council.