Gagingwell is a 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...

 in West Oxfordshire

West Oxfordshire

West Oxfordshire is a local government district in north west Oxfordshire, England including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, and Witney ....

, about 6 miles (10 km) east of Chipping Norton

Chipping Norton

Chipping Norton is a market town in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about southwest of Banbury.-History until the 17th century:...

 and about 1.8 miles (3 km) east of Enstone.

The hamlet surrounds a group of springs

Spring (hydrosphere)

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

 that give rise to a brook, which flows southwards almost 1 miles (1.6 km) to join the River Glyme

River Glyme

The River Glyme is a river in Oxfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Evenlode. It rises about east of Chipping Norton, and flows south east past Old Chalford, Enstone, Kiddington, Glympton and Wootton, Woodstock and through Blenheim Park. At Wootton the Glyme is joined by a...

 just downstream of the hamlet of Radford

Radford, Oxfordshire

Radford is a hamlet on the River Glyme in Enstone civil parish about east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.A.W.N. Pugin designed the Roman Catholic chapel of the Holy Trinity in a Gothic Revival version of Early English Gothic. It was built in 1841....

.

History

In the late 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...

 a stone wayside cross

Preaching cross

A preaching cross is a cross, sometimes surmounting a pulpit, erected out of doors to designate a preaching place.In Britain and Ireland, many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected. Some of these crosses bear figurative or decorative carvings, or inscriptions in runes...

 was built next to one of the springs. Its surviving plinth and steps are a scheduled monument and a Grade II* listed building.

Gagingwell's few houses are late 17th or 18th century stone buildings with roofs of Stonesfield Slate or, in one case, thatch. The hamlet has also two 18th or early 19th century stone-built barns.

Gagingwell is on the main road between Enstone and Bicester

Bicester

Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...

. The road was turnpiked

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 1793, disturnpiked in 1876 and is now classified the B4030 road.

In 1848 Gagingwell's population was reckoned to be 57 people.