Drayton, Cherwell
Encyclopedia
Drayton is a village and civil parish in the valley of the Sor Brook in Oxfordshire
, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Banbury
.
tiles and Roman coins
found near the parish church
indicate that there was a Roman villa
in the area of what later became Drayton village.
Drayton village is Saxon
in origin. Its toponym
comes from the Old English drag meaning to carry goods.
of 1066 the conquering Normans
dispossessed many Saxon
landowners, but the Domesday Book
records that in 1086 Drayton still belonged to a Saxon thegn
, Turchil of Arden. However, in 1088 William the Conqueror
created the Earldom of Warwick and thereafter gave Turchil's estates to the Norman nobleman Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
. The Arden family seems to have remained as tenants of the Earldom, for in 1204 a Thomas Arden held the tenancy. In 1329 Sir Robert Arden was licenced to crenellate
Drayton manor house
. The male line of the Arden family ended in 1376 with the death of Sir Giles Arden, whose son had predeceased him. Sir Giles' granddaughters Margaret and Joan were minors, but on reaching their majority and marriage they inherited the Drayton estate. Joan and her husband surrendered their share of Drayton to Margaret who had married Lewis Greville. The house remained the seat of the Greville family until 1565, when a later Lewis Greville was heavily in debt and sold the manor to one Thomas Webb. By 1588 Thomas Webb had died leaving Drayton to his brother Richard and widow Katherine. Lewis Greville lured Richard Webb to Sezincote House
in Gloucestershire
where Greville got Webb drunk, persuaded him to write a will in Greville's favour and then murdered him. Greville was tried for murder, and because he refused to enter a plea he was executed by pressing instead of hanging.
By 1598 most of the manor of Drayton belonged to Anthony Cope
of Hanwell
. In 1611 Elizabeth I
made Cope Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet. Drayton remained with the Cope Baronets of Hanwell until the death of Sir John Cope, 5th Baronet in 1721. It then passed to another branch of the Cope family, Sir Jonathan Cope, 1st Baronet of Bruern. When Sir Charles Cope, 3rd Baronet died in 1781, Drayton passed to one of his sisters, Catherine. In 1790 Catherine's daughter Arabella was married to John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
and received Drayton from her mother. In 1825 Drayton was inherited by the Duke and Duchess's younger daughter, Elizabeth Sackville-West, Countess De La Warr
. When she died in 1870 her manorial rights passed to the North family of Wroxton Abbey
.
In about 1629 Sir William Cope, 2nd Baronet sold a large acreage of land at Drayton to
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele
of Broughton Castle
. By 1790 the same property belonged to Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford
of Wroxton Abbey. In 1935 and 1942 the Norths sold their lands at Drayton to Trinity College, Oxford
.
of Saint Peter
was in existence by 1223. Its earliest surviving features are a Norman
priest's doorway and the font
. In the 14th century St. Peter's was almost completely rebuilt and north and south aisles were added, all in the Decorated Gothic style. Lobel and Crossley contend that the clerestorey was added at the same time, but it is in the Perpendicular Gothic style and Sherwood and Pevsner contend it was added later. The low west tower
was added in 1808 and has three 17th century bells: two cast in 1634 and two more cast in 1670. In 1878 the Gothic Revival architect
Edwin Dolby
restored the church and added a vestry.
Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet (1550–1615) was a puritan
, and in 1598 he presented Robert Cleaver, a presbyterian
to be curate
of Drayton. John Bridges
, whom James I
had appointed Bishop of Oxford
in 1603, suspended Cleaver for failing to adhere to the Book of Common Prayer. In 1607 Sir Anthony Cope persuaded Richard Bancroft
, Archbishop of Canterbury
to accept Henry Scudder
as Drayton's new curate. In 1619 Scudder was succeeded by another puritan, Thomas Lodge, who was described as a "a burning and a shining light" and was curate until 1651. A low church
tradition survived in Drayton with John Dover, who was curate 1688-1725. From 1778 until the 1960s all of Drayton's curates were Evangelicals
and most had served as missionaries
in other continents.
St. Peter's is now one of eight ecclesiastical parishes in the Ironstone Benefice.
A parsonage was built in Drayton in the 16th century. In 1862 it was replaced by a large new rectory
built on the same site by the architect Arthur Blomfield
, but the Victorian house retains cellars built in the 17th century.
The main road between Banbury and Warwick runs north-south along a ridge in the eastern part of the parish. It was made into a turnpike
in 1744 and ceased to be one in 1871. In the 1920s it was classified as part of the A41 road. After the completion of the M40 motorway in 1990 this part of the A41 was "detrunked" and reclassified as the B4100.
The main road between Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon
branches off the Banbury - Warwick road and descends through Drayton village to cross Sor Brook. An Act of Parliament
to turn this road was passed in 1747 works to improve the road and establish toll houses were not undertaken until 1754. Since the 1920s it has been classified the A422 road
.
Drayton's earliest recorded public house
s were licenced from 1753. By 1782 the village had two pubs, the Hare and Hounds and the Roebuck Inn. The last record of the Hare and Hounds is from 1806, but the Roebuck Inn continues to serve the village. It is a 17th century Hornton Stone
building with a thatched
roof. It belongs to the local Hook Norton Brewery
and serves real ales.
Thomas Webb had enclosed
some of Drayton's farmland when he bought the manor from Lewis Greville in 1565, but the villagers farmed most of the parish on an open field system
until it was enclosed in 1802.
By 1833 Drayton had two day schools and a Sunday school
. One of the day schools was still extant in 1855, when the 5th Earl De La Warr
and Countess De La Warr had given two cottages to be converted into a schoolroom. This was rebuilt by 1891 but was still unsatisfactory and in 1900 a separate infants' classroom was built. The number of pupils declined in the 1930s and the school was closed in 1948.
The Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway
was built during the First World War
to carry ironstone
from a quarry west of Horley
to a junction with the Great Western Railway
just north of Banbury. The ironstone
railway passed just north of Drayton. It was opened in 1917 and closed in 1967.
is a county secondary school
just outside the village. It was founded in 2007 to take over the premises of the former Drayton School
, which had been opened in 1973.
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest 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 history
TesselatedTessera
A tessera is an individual tile in a mosaic, usually formed in the shape of a cube. It is also known as an abaciscus, abaculus, or, in Persian کاشي معرق. In antiquity, mosaics were formed from naturally colored pebbles, but by 200 BC purpose-made tesserae were being used...
tiles and Roman coins
Roman currency
The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...
found near the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
indicate that there was a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
in the area of what later became Drayton village.
Drayton village is Saxon
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
in origin. Its 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...
comes from the Old English drag meaning to carry goods.
Manor of Drayton
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...
of 1066 the conquering Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
dispossessed many 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...
landowners, but 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 Drayton still belonged to a Saxon thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
, Turchil of Arden. However, in 1088 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...
created the Earldom of Warwick and thereafter gave Turchil's estates to the Norman nobleman Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick was a Norman nobleman. Henry was the younger son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran I, Count of Meulan. He was given by his father the modest lordship of Le Neubourg, in central Normandy...
. The Arden family seems to have remained as tenants of the Earldom, for in 1204 a Thomas Arden held the tenancy. In 1329 Sir Robert Arden was licenced to crenellate
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
Drayton manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
. The male line of the Arden family ended in 1376 with the death of Sir Giles Arden, whose son had predeceased him. Sir Giles' granddaughters Margaret and Joan were minors, but on reaching their majority and marriage they inherited the Drayton estate. Joan and her husband surrendered their share of Drayton to Margaret who had married Lewis Greville. The house remained the seat of the Greville family until 1565, when a later Lewis Greville was heavily in debt and sold the manor to one Thomas Webb. By 1588 Thomas Webb had died leaving Drayton to his brother Richard and widow Katherine. Lewis Greville lured Richard Webb to Sezincote House
Sezincote House
Sezincote is a British estate, located in Gloucestershire, England. It was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell in 1805, and is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture, a 19th-century reinterpretation of 16th and 17th-century Mughal architecture from the Mughal Empire.Sezincote is dominated by...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
where Greville got Webb drunk, persuaded him to write a will in Greville's favour and then murdered him. Greville was tried for murder, and because he refused to enter a plea he was executed by pressing instead of hanging.
By 1598 most of the manor of Drayton belonged to Anthony Cope
Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet
-Life:He was a grandson of Anthony Cope the author. He was member of Parliament for Banbury in seven parliaments , and then represented Oxfordshire from 1606 until 1614...
of 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....
. In 1611 Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
made Cope Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet. Drayton remained with the Cope Baronets of Hanwell until the death of Sir John Cope, 5th Baronet in 1721. It then passed to another branch of the Cope family, Sir Jonathan Cope, 1st Baronet of Bruern. When Sir Charles Cope, 3rd Baronet died in 1781, Drayton passed to one of his sisters, Catherine. In 1790 Catherine's daughter Arabella was married to John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. He succeeded to the dukedom in 1769 on the death of his uncle, Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset...
and received Drayton from her mother. In 1825 Drayton was inherited by the Duke and Duchess's younger daughter, Elizabeth Sackville-West, Countess De La Warr
Elizabeth Sackville-West, Countess De La Warr
Elizabeth Sackville-West, Countess De La Warr and 1st Baroness Buckhurst was a British peeress.-Biography:...
. When she died in 1870 her manorial rights passed to the North family of Wroxton Abbey
Wroxton Abbey
Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean house in Oxfordshire, with a 1727 garden partly converted to the serpentine style between 1731 and 1751. It is west of Banbury, off the A422, in Wroxton St. Mary. It is now the English campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University....
.
In about 1629 Sir William Cope, 2nd Baronet sold a large acreage of land at Drayton to
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele
William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele was born at the family home of Broughton Castle near Banbury, in Oxfordshire. He was the only son of Richard Fiennes, seventh Baron Saye and Sele...
of Broughton Castle
Broughton Castle
Broughton Castle is a medieval manor house located in the village of Broughton which is about two miles south-west of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England on the B4035 road ....
. By 1790 the same property belonged to Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford
Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford
Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford , known as The Lord Guildford between 1729 and 1752, was a British peer and politician.North was the son of Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford, and his wife Alicia...
of Wroxton Abbey. In 1935 and 1942 the Norths sold their lands at Drayton to Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
.
Parish church
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 Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
was in existence by 1223. Its earliest surviving features are a 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...
priest's doorway and the 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:...
. In the 14th century St. Peter's was almost completely rebuilt and north and south aisles were added, all in the Decorated Gothic style. Lobel and Crossley contend that the clerestorey was added at the same time, but it is in the Perpendicular Gothic style and Sherwood and Pevsner contend it was added later. The low west tower
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...
was added in 1808 and has three 17th century bells: two cast in 1634 and two more cast in 1670. In 1878 the Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
Edwin Dolby
Edwin Dolby
Edwin Dolby was a Victorian architect who practised in Abingdon, England.-Career:Dolby's works span the period 1863–1888. He altered, rebuilt or restored a number of Church of England parish churches, most of them in the Vale of White Horse and Oxfordshire. In 1869–70, he built Abingdon Grammar...
restored the church and added a vestry.
Sir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet (1550–1615) was 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...
, and in 1598 he presented Robert Cleaver, a presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
to be curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Drayton. John Bridges
John Bridges (bishop)
-Life:He graduated M.A. at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge in 1560, having been a Fellow there since 1556. He became Dean of Salisbury in 1577.He was appointed Bishop of Oxford on the accession of James I of England, and took part in the Hampton Court Conference, in 1604....
, whom James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
had appointed Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
in 1603, suspended Cleaver for failing to adhere to the Book of Common Prayer. In 1607 Sir Anthony Cope persuaded Richard Bancroft
Richard Bancroft
Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD, BD, MA, BA was an English churchman, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and the "chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the Bible.-Life:...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
to accept Henry Scudder
Henry Scudder (clergyman)
Henry Scudder was an English clergyman of presbyterian views, known as a devotional writer, and member of the Westminster Assembly.-Life:...
as Drayton's new curate. In 1619 Scudder was succeeded by another puritan, Thomas Lodge, who was described as a "a burning and a shining light" and was curate until 1651. A low church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
tradition survived in Drayton with John Dover, who was curate 1688-1725. From 1778 until the 1960s all of Drayton's curates were Evangelicals
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
and most had served as missionaries
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
in other continents.
St. Peter's is now one of eight ecclesiastical parishes in the Ironstone Benefice.
Social and economic history
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Drayton had a water mill, presumably on Sor Brook on the western boundary of the parish just below the village. There is then a gap of five centuries in which no mill is recorded, but records resume with a mill operating in the parish from 1589 until 1851.A parsonage was built in Drayton in the 16th century. In 1862 it was replaced by a large new 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...
built on the same site by the architect Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
, but the Victorian house retains cellars built in the 17th century.
The main road between Banbury and Warwick runs north-south along a ridge in the eastern part of the parish. 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 1744 and ceased to be one in 1871. In the 1920s it was classified as part of the A41 road. After the completion of the M40 motorway in 1990 this part of the A41 was "detrunked" and reclassified as the B4100.
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...
branches off the Banbury - Warwick road and descends through Drayton village to cross Sor Brook. 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....
to turn this road was passed in 1747 works to improve the road and establish toll houses were not undertaken until 1754. Since the 1920s it has been classified 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....
.
Drayton's earliest recorded 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 were licenced from 1753. By 1782 the village had two pubs, the Hare and Hounds and the Roebuck Inn. The last record of the Hare and Hounds is from 1806, but the Roebuck Inn continues to serve the village. It is a 17th century Hornton Stone
Cotswold stone
Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic limestone quarried in many places in the Cotswold Hills in the south midlands of England. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as 'honey' or 'golden'....
building with a thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
roof. It belongs to the local Hook Norton Brewery
Hook Norton Brewery
Hook 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...
and serves real ales.
Thomas Webb had 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...
some of Drayton's farmland when he bought the manor from Lewis Greville in 1565, but the villagers farmed most of the parish on 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...
until it was enclosed in 1802.
By 1833 Drayton had two day schools and a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. One of the day schools was still extant in 1855, when the 5th Earl De La Warr
George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr
George John Sackville-West, 5th Earl de la Warr PC , styled Viscount Cantelupe until 1795, was a British courtier and Tory politician.-Background:...
and Countess De La Warr had given two cottages to be converted into a schoolroom. This was rebuilt by 1891 but was still unsatisfactory and in 1900 a separate infants' classroom was built. The number of pupils declined in the 1930s and the school was closed in 1948.
The Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway
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 built during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to carry ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
from a quarry west of Horley
Horley, Oxfordshire
Horley is a village and civil parish in the north of Oxfordshire about north-west of Banbury.-Parish church:The Church of England parish church of Saint Etheldreda was built in the 12th century. It was remodelled in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries and thus incorporates a mixture of Norman,...
to a junction with 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...
just north of Banbury. The ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
railway passed just north of Drayton. It was opened in 1917 and closed in 1967.
North Oxfordshire Academy
North Oxfordshire AcademyNorth Oxfordshire Academy
North Oxfordshire Academy is a city academy in Banbury, Oxfordshire which opened in September 2007, replacing the former Drayton School. Its sixth form opened in September 2008. The Principal of North Oxfordshire Academy is Sara Billins.The previous Principal, Ruth Robinson, left in October...
is a county secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
just outside the village. It was founded in 2007 to take over the premises of the former Drayton School
Drayton School
Drayton School was a comprehensive school with 650 students. It was situated on Stratford Road in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. Its buildings are now occupied by the North Oxfordshire Academy which has replaced Drayton since 2007.- Overview :...
, which had been opened in 1973.