Finstock
Encyclopedia
Finstock is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Charlbury
in Oxfordshire
, England
. The parish is bounded to the northeast by the River Evenlode
, to the southeast partly by the course of Akeman Street
Roman road
, and on other sides by field boundaries.
coins and Romano-British
potsherds have been found in the parish.
It is thought that there was a settlement of some kind here at the time of the Domesday survey of 1086 when it formed part of the 'hundred of Banbury
' belonging to the Bishop of Lincoln
. In 1135 the village of Finstock is referred to as Fynstoke. In this period, the village formed part of the manor
and parish
of Charlbury
.
Finstock, together with its neighbours Charlbury
, Fawler
and Leafield
, lay in a clearing of Wychwood Forest that used to stretch from Woodstock to Burford
. Much of the forest
land was cleared for growing arable
crops and during the Middle Ages
barley
was the main crop in Finstock. Other land was used for sheep grazing and many of the people of Finstock were involved in the woolen
industry - the carding
being done by men and boys and the spinning
by women.
In the early 16th century the manor of Charlbury and its land, including Finstock, was owned by Sir Thomas White
, a London tailor
who founded St John's College, Oxford
in 1555. The manor
was then included in the college's endowment. As the college lands were owned by an absentee landlord
, the land was leased to many people including the Lee family of Ditchley Park
from 1592 to 1776. The college then resumed direct control until 1857, when the lordship of the manor passed to Francis Spencer, 2nd Lord Churchill of Wychwood
, the owner of Cornbury Park. It remains in the possession of Cornbury Park today although most of the manorial rights have lapsed and much of the village of Finstock is now freehold.
Construction of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
(OW&W) along the Evenlode Valley began 1845 and the line was opened in 1853. It passes through the northeastern edge of Finstock parish about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) from the village. Originally its nearest station was 2 miles (3.2 km) from Finstock. The Great Western Railway
took over the OW&W in 1862 and opened Finstock railway station
in 1934.
Glove making at the village hall
site by the women and agricultural labouring on nearby land by the men and boys, used to be the principal occupations of the people of Finstock during the earlier part of the 20th century - although now many inhabitants of Finstock commute
by car and bus to Witney
, Chipping Norton and Oxford
. Finstock is now a separate civil and ecclesiastical parish, its population mostly living along the sides of a large triangle formed by the main Witney-Charlbury road (west to north), School Road (east) and Finstock High Street (south). Much in-filling with new buildings has further completed the triangle and four new estates were built during the 20th century. The farming now is mainly arable barley
, wheat
and oilseed rape but there is still some mixed farming.
is a Gothic Revival
building of 1841. Its ornate chancel
was added in 1905 and its elaborate south window by the architect P. Morley Horder in 1929.
T. S. Eliot
came to Finstock to be received into the Church of England
. William Force Stead
was a fellow American
and came to England as an American consul but soon found that his real bents in life were literature
and religion
. He was ordained, became chaplain
of Worcester College, Oxford and after meeting Eliot in 1923 (with whom he shared a love of cats) steadily drew him towards Anglicanism
and agreed to baptise him. He was then living in "a fine seventeenth century gabled house at Finstock", Finstock Manor and invited Eliot to stay there to meet his godfathers, B. H. Streeter
and Vere Somerset http://www.thepeerage.com/p1019.htm#i10183, before his baptism at Finstock on June 29, 1927.
: the Plough Inn.
Finstock railway station
is on the Cotswold Line
. The station is between Finstock and the hamlet
of Fawler
.
Finstock has a Church of England
primary school.
Finstock has a Women's Institute.
Charlbury
Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The parish is bounded to the northeast by the River Evenlode
River Evenlode
The River Evenlode is a river in England which is a tributary of the Thames in Oxfordshire. It rises near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold Hills and flows south-east passing near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury, Bladon, and Cassington, and its valley provides the route of the southern...
, to the southeast partly by the course of Akeman Street
Akeman Street
Akeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked Watling Street with the Fosse Way. Its junction with Watling Steet was just north of Verulamium and that with the Fosse Way was at Corinium Dobunnorum...
Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
, and on other sides by field boundaries.
History
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...
coins and Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
potsherds have been found in the parish.
It is thought that there was a settlement of some kind here at the time of the Domesday survey of 1086 when it formed part of the 'hundred 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...
' belonging to 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...
. In 1135 the village of Finstock is referred to as Fynstoke. In this period, the village formed part of 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...
and parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Charlbury
Charlbury
Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...
.
Finstock, together with its neighbours Charlbury
Charlbury
Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...
, Fawler
Fawler
Fawler is a hamlet and civil parish in the valley of the River Evenlode, southeast of Charlbury in Oxfordshire, England.There are traces of a Roman villa at Oatlands Farm. The manor house was built in 1660....
and Leafield
Leafield
Leafield is a village and civil parish about northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, west of Leafield village....
, lay in a clearing of Wychwood Forest that used to stretch from Woodstock to Burford
Burford
Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills in west Oxfordshire, England, about west of Oxford, southeast of Cheltenham and only from the Gloucestershire boundary...
. Much of the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
land was cleared for growing arable
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
crops and during 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...
barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
was the main crop in Finstock. Other land was used for sheep grazing and many of the people of Finstock were involved in the woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
industry - the carding
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
being done by men and boys and the spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
by women.
In the early 16th century the manor of Charlbury and its land, including Finstock, was owned by Sir Thomas White
Thomas White (merchant)
Sir Thomas White was an English cloth merchant, civic benefactor and founder of St John's College, Oxford.He was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of William White, a clothier of Reading, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Henry Kibblewhite of South Fawley, also in Berkshire. He was brought up in...
, a London tailor
Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London.The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St...
who founded St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
in 1555. 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...
was then included in the college's endowment. As the college lands were owned by an absentee landlord
Absentee landlord
Absentee landlord is an economic term for a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. This practice is problematic for that region because absentee landlords drain local wealth into their home country, particularly that...
, the land was leased to many people including the Lee family of Ditchley Park
Ditchley
Ditchley is a country house and estate about northeast of Charlbury in Oxfordshire.-Archaeology:There are remains of a Roman villa on the Ditchley Park estate at Watts Wells, less than southeast of the house...
from 1592 to 1776. The college then resumed direct control until 1857, when the lordship of the manor passed to Francis Spencer, 2nd Lord Churchill of Wychwood
Victor Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill
Major Victor Albert Francis Charles Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill GCVO JP , known as The Lord Churchill between 1886 and 1902, was a British peer and courtier....
, the owner of Cornbury Park. It remains in the possession of Cornbury Park today although most of the manorial rights have lapsed and much of the village of Finstock is now freehold.
Construction of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
(OW&W) along the Evenlode Valley began 1845 and the line was opened in 1853. It passes through the northeastern edge of Finstock parish about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) from the village. Originally its nearest station was 2 miles (3.2 km) from Finstock. 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...
took over the OW&W in 1862 and opened Finstock railway station
Finstock railway station
Finstock railway station serves the village of Finstock and the hamlet of Fawler in Oxfordshire, England. This station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western...
in 1934.
Glove making at 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...
site by the women and agricultural labouring on nearby land by the men and boys, used to be the principal occupations of the people of Finstock during the earlier part of the 20th century - although now many inhabitants of Finstock commute
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
by car and bus to Witney
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
, Chipping Norton and 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...
. Finstock is now a separate civil and ecclesiastical parish, its population mostly living along the sides of a large triangle formed by the main Witney-Charlbury road (west to north), School Road (east) and Finstock High Street (south). Much in-filling with new buildings has further completed the triangle and four new estates were built during the 20th century. The farming now is mainly arable barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and oilseed rape but there is still some mixed farming.
Parish church
Holy Trinity 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:...
is a Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
building of 1841. Its ornate 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...
was added in 1905 and its elaborate south window by the architect P. Morley Horder in 1929.
T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
came to Finstock to be received into 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...
. William Force Stead
William Force Stead
William Force Stead was an American diplomat and poet, who became an Anglican clergyman and chaplain of Worcester College, Oxford. He is best known for his editorial work on Christopher Smart....
was a fellow American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and came to England as an American consul but soon found that his real bents in life were literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. He was ordained, became chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
of Worcester College, Oxford and after meeting Eliot in 1923 (with whom he shared a love of cats) steadily drew him towards Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
and agreed to baptise him. He was then living in "a fine seventeenth century gabled house at Finstock", Finstock Manor and invited Eliot to stay there to meet his godfathers, B. H. Streeter
Burnett Hillman Streeter
Burnett Hillman Streeter was a British biblical scholar and textual critic.-Life:He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford. Streeter was ordained in 1899 and was a member of the Archbishop’s Commission on Doctrine in the Church of England...
and Vere Somerset http://www.thepeerage.com/p1019.htm#i10183, before his baptism at Finstock on June 29, 1927.
Amenities
Finstock has a public housePublic 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 Plough Inn.
Finstock railway station
Finstock railway station
Finstock railway station serves the village of Finstock and the hamlet of Fawler in Oxfordshire, England. This station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western...
is on the Cotswold Line
Cotswold Line
The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.-Route:The line comprises all or part of the following Network Rail routes:*GW 200 from Oxford*GW 310 from Wolvercot Junction*GW 300 from Norton Junction*GW 340 from Worcester Shrub Hill...
. The station is between Finstock and the hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Fawler
Fawler
Fawler is a hamlet and civil parish in the valley of the River Evenlode, southeast of Charlbury in Oxfordshire, England.There are traces of a Roman villa at Oatlands Farm. The manor house was built in 1660....
.
Finstock has a Church of England
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...
primary school.
Finstock has a Women's Institute.