Drayton St. Leonard
Encyclopedia
Drayton St. Leonard is a village and civil parish on the River Thame
in Oxfordshire
, about 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Oxford
.
of 1086 does not list Drayton separately. At that time the land was part of the Bishop of Lincoln
's estate of Dorchester. The village developed as a subsidiary of Dorchester. Upon the dissolution of the monasteries
Dorchester Abbey
surrendered its lands to The Crown
and Drayton remained with the Dorchester estate. By the 18th century the Earl of Abingdon
was the principal landowner. In the 19th century the family still held the largest acreage, but Trinity College, Oxford
had also become a significant landowner in the parish. Most of the land of the parish was farmed on an open field system
until it was enclosed
in 1861.
of Saint Leonard and Saint Catherine
existed by 1146, when it was a chapel
of the peculier
of Dorchester Abbey. The Norman
doorways in the north and south walls date fom this time. In the 13th century a transept
al chapel was added on the north side and new windows were inserted in the nave, all in the Early English Gothic style. The bell tower
is timber, which is unusual for Oxfordshire. Its oldest bell was originally cast
in 1470, which could also be the date that the tower was built. In the 16th century two of the nave windows were enlarged in the Perpendicular Gothic style.
In 1859 the building was drastically restored to plans by Gothic Revival architect
G.E. Street
. The external arch of the Norman south doorway was removed, all tracery
was removed from the chancel windows, and a Sanctus bell turret and sundial
were removed from the eastern gable of the nave. In 1884 the bell tower was strengthened, shingled
and fitted with a clock.
A stained glass
portrayal of St Leonard in the lancet window
in the north wall of the chancel originates from the middle of the 14th century, but most of the present pieces of its glass date from the 1859 restoration. Ninian Comper
and William Bucknall made the stained glass in the three-light east window of the chancel and two-light south-east window of the nave in 1894. The latter is based on a painting by the 15th century Early Netherlandish painter
Dirk Bouts
in St. Peter's Church, Leuven
in Flanders
.
In 1552 St. Leonard's was recorded as having three bells. In 1884 when the tower was strengthened, Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
recast the three original bells and cast three new ones to make the present ring
of six.
SS Leonard & Catherine is now a member of the Dorchester Team Ministry.
The Rectory
was designed by the architect John Billing
and built in 1862.
The first Methodist
chapel in Drayton is said to have been built in 1814. It was replaced with a new building on a different site in 1879. The chapel was still used for worship in 1958.
.
The village has one public house
, the Catherine Wheel
. Licencing records show that it was a public house by 1841. For a time the village had a second public house, the Three Pigeons. The building is now a private house but retains its pub name. For many years Morrells of Oxford controlled the Catherine Wheel but it is now a free house. The present structure dates from the 1930s, and replaced an earlier building that was destroyed by fire.
A National School
was completed and opened next to the parish church in 1855. In 1925 it was reorganised as a junior school, with older pupils being schooled in Dorchester. The school was closed in 1947 and is now the village hall
.
aircraft.
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. It is a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames.The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, about 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Manor
The Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 does not list Drayton separately. At that time the land was part of the Bishop of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
's estate of Dorchester. The village developed as a subsidiary of Dorchester. Upon the 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...
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester Abbey is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the site of a Saxon cathedral.-History:...
surrendered its lands 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...
and Drayton remained with the Dorchester estate. By the 18th century the Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Baroness Norreys de Rycote, and the younger half-brother of...
was the principal landowner. In the 19th century the family still held the largest acreage, but 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,...
had also become a significant landowner in the parish. Most of the land of the parish was farmed 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
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...
in 1861.
Church and chapel
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 Leonard and Saint Catherine
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
existed by 1146, when it was a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
of the peculier
Peculier
Peculier may refer to:* A Royal Peculiar , an area including one or more places of worship under the jurisdiction of the British monarchy* Old Peculier, a beer brewed by Theakston Brewery, named in honour of the Peculier of Masham...
of Dorchester Abbey. The 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...
doorways in the north and south walls date fom this time. In the 13th century a 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...
al chapel was added on the north side and new windows were inserted in the nave, all in the Early English Gothic 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...
is timber, which is unusual for Oxfordshire. Its oldest bell was originally cast
Bellfounding
Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in...
in 1470, which could also be the date that the tower was built. In the 16th century two of the nave windows were enlarged in the Perpendicular Gothic style.
In 1859 the building was drastically restored to plans by 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...
. The external arch of the Norman south doorway was removed, all tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
was removed from the chancel windows, and a Sanctus bell turret and sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
were removed from the eastern gable of the nave. In 1884 the bell tower was strengthened, shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
and fitted with a clock.
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...
portrayal of St Leonard in the lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
in the north wall of the chancel originates from the middle of the 14th century, but most of the present pieces of its glass date from the 1859 restoration. Ninian Comper
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
and William Bucknall made the stained glass in the three-light east window of the chancel and two-light south-east window of the nave in 1894. The latter is based on a painting by the 15th century Early Netherlandish painter
Early Netherlandish painting
Early Netherlandish painting refers to the work of artists active in the Low Countries during the 15th- and early 16th-century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing Burgundian cities of Bruges and Ghent...
Dirk Bouts
Dirk Bouts
Dieric Bouts was an Early Netherlandish painter. According to Karel van Mander in his Het Schilderboeck of 1604, Bouts was born in Haarlem and was mainly active in Leuven , where he was city painter from 1468...
in St. Peter's Church, Leuven
St. Peter's Church, Leuven
Saint Peter's Church of Leuven, Belgium, is situated on the city's Grote Markt , right across the ornate Town Hall...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
In 1552 St. Leonard's was recorded as having three bells. In 1884 when the tower was strengthened, Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
recast the three original bells and cast three new ones to make the present 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 six.
SS Leonard & Catherine is now a member of the Dorchester Team Ministry.
The 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...
was designed by the architect John Billing
John Billing
John Billing, FRIBA was an architect from Reading, Berkshire. His grandfather Richard Billing , father Richard Billing , brothers Richard and Arthur and nephew Arthur Ernest were also architects....
and built in 1862.
The first 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 in Drayton is said to have been built in 1814. It was replaced with a new building on a different site in 1879. The chapel was still used for worship in 1958.
Secular buildings
The oldest secular building in Drayton is a timber-framed barn. Its date is unknown but it is thought to be about 1400. There are at least 15 houses and cottages dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, several of which are thatchedThatching
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...
.
The village has one public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Catherine Wheel
Breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death...
. Licencing records show that it was a public house by 1841. For a time the village had a second public house, the Three Pigeons. The building is now a private house but retains its pub name. For many years Morrells of Oxford controlled the Catherine Wheel but it is now a free house. The present structure dates from the 1930s, and replaced an earlier building that was destroyed by fire.
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...
was completed and opened next to the parish church in 1855. In 1925 it was reorganised as a junior school, with older pupils being schooled in Dorchester. The school was closed in 1947 and is now the village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
.
Amenities
The village has a small private airstrip. It is suitable only for microlights and STOLSTOL
STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...
aircraft.