Fernham is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) south of Faringdon

Faringdon

Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...

 in the Vale of White Horse

Vale of White Horse

The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...

. Fernham was historically part of the parish of Shrivenham

Shrivenham

Shrivenham is a large village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, close to the boundary with Wiltshire. It is in the Vale of White Horse, between Swindon and Faringdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Character:Shrivenham features many...

. It was part of Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 until the 1974 local authority boundary changes

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

 transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.

Manor

The manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Fernham was in existence by the first half of the 13th century, when Juliana de Elsefeld quitclaimed

Quitclaim deed

A quitclaim deed is a legal instrument by which the owner of a piece of real property, called the grantor, transfers his interest to a recipient, called the grantee. The owner/grantor terminates his right and claim to the property, thereby allowing claim to transfer to the...

 six virgate

Virgate

The virgate or yardland was a unit of land area measurement used in medieval England, typically outside the Danelaw, and was held to be the amount of land that a team of two oxen could plough in a single annual season. It was equivalent to a quarter of a hide, so was nominally thirty acres...

s of land at Fernham to William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke

William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke

William de Valence, 1st Earl of Wexford and 1st Earl of Pembroke , born Guillaume de Lusignan or de Valence, was a French nobleman and Knight, who became important in English politics due to his relationship to Henry III...

. The Earl supported Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 but the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...

 defeated the King at the Battle of Lewes

Battle of Lewes

The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264...

 in 1264, and thereafter the manors of Shrivenham and Fernham was granted to his wife Joan de Valence, Countess of Pembroke

Joan de Munchensi

Joan de Munchensi or Munchensy , Lady of Swanscombe and Countess of Pembroke , was the daughter of Joan Marshal and granddaughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke suo jure.-Family:William Marshal was the great Lord Marshal who served five...

 for her maintenance. Shrivenham and Fernham descended with the same heirs until Richard Talbot, 2nd Baron Talbot died seised

Seisin

Seisin is the term denoting the legal possession of a feudal fiefdom . It was used in the form of "the son and heir of X has obtained seisin of his inheritance", and thus is effectively a term concerned with conveyancing in the feudal era...

 of the reversion

Reversion (law)

A reversion is a type of "remainder" interest created when incomplete ownership in property is alienated subject to a condition subsequent. Upon the fulfillment of the condition subsequent, the incomplete possessory rights cease to exist and exclusive ownership returns to the holder of the...

 of Fernham in 1356.

Church, chapel and priory

Fernham was part of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 parish of Shrivenham

Shrivenham

Shrivenham is a large village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, close to the boundary with Wiltshire. It is in the Vale of White Horse, between Swindon and Faringdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Character:Shrivenham features many...

 until 1846, when it and neighbouring Longcot

Longcot

Longcot is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse District. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is about south of Faringdon and about northeast of Shrivenham. The A420 road between Swindon and Oxford passes through the...

 were formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish. 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 John the Evangelist

John the Evangelist

Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

 was designed in 13th century style by the Gothic Revival architect

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 J.W. Hugall

John West Hugall

John West Hugall, FRIBA, was a British Gothic Revival architect. His dates of birth and death are unknown.-Career:Hugall's works span the period 1848-78. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1871....

 and built in 1861 as a chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

 for Longcot. St. John's parish is now part of a single Church of England Benefice with the parishes of Ashbury

Ashbury, Oxfordshire

Ashbury is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is about east of Swindon in neighbouring Wiltshire...

, Bourton

Bourton, Vale of White Horse

Bourton is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about southeast of Highworth in neighbouring Wiltshire. The western boundary of the parish is a stream that also forms the county boundary....

, Compton Beauchamp

Compton Beauchamp

Compton Beauchamp is a hamlet and civil parish southeast of Shrivenham in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Location:...

, Longcot

Longcot

Longcot is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse District. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is about south of Faringdon and about northeast of Shrivenham. The A420 road between Swindon and Oxford passes through the...

, Shrivenham

Shrivenham

Shrivenham is a large village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, close to the boundary with Wiltshire. It is in the Vale of White Horse, between Swindon and Faringdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Character:Shrivenham features many...

 and Watchfield

Watchfield

Watchfield is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, about southeast of Highworth in neighbouring Wiltshire. Watchfield is about north of the village of Shrivenham. Both villages used to be on the main road between Oxford and Swindon, which is now the A420 road...

. In 2008 the parish controversially spent a £90,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund to strip St. John's of its Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 pews, lay a modern floor and reorder its interior for secular uses as a 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...

.

Fernham had a Congregational

Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....

 chapel.

From 1966 to 2008 a community of Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 Benedictine

Order of Saint Benedict

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

 nuns had its priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 at a former farmstead 1/2 mi northwest of the village.

Economic and social history

A village school was built in Fernham in 1717 and altered in 1825. It has since merged with the village school in Longcot and its former premises in Fernham are now a parish room.

The Faringdon Railway

Faringdon railway station

Faringdon Railway Station is a closed stone and brick built railway station that served the market town of Faringdon, in Oxfordshire, England and was on the Faringdon branch line.-History:...

 was built through the eastern part of the parish in 1864. It was a broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 branch line linking the town of Faringdon with the Great Western Main Line

Great Western Main Line

The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...

 at . It was converted to standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 in 1878 and taken over by 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...

 in 1886. British Rail

British Rail

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

ways withdrew passenger services in 1951 and closed the line to freight traffic in 1964.

In the winter of 2007–08 Farmer Gow's Activity Centre moved from Appleton

Appleton

-People:* Alistair Appleton, British television presenter* Charles W. Appleton, of GE* Colin Appleton, footballer* Daniel Appleton, American publisher, 1800s founder of D...

to Fernham. It offers family activities based on farming.