Hook Norton
Encyclopedia
Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of Chipping Norton.
in AD 922 the village is called Hocnertune. In the Domesday Book
of 1086 it is called Hochenartone. Other historical spellings of the name include Hocceneretune (1050), Hogenarton (1216) and Okenardton (1263).
Today the village is colloquially known to its inhabitants as "Hooky" and sometimes as "The Hook". The village is formed of four neighbourhoods: East End, Scotland End (in the west), Down End (in the centre) and Southrop (in the south).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
records that a Viking
army raided the Hook Norton area in AD 913 and the village had a parish church
by AD 922. The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Hook Norton had 76 villagers and two mill
s.
of Saint Peter
is of Norman
origin but also has Early English, Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic features. The Norman
font
is 11th century and is unusual in featuring pagan signs of the Zodiac
. St. Peter's contains a number of Mediaeval wall paintings including saint
s, angel
s and the Apostle
s Saint Peter
and Saint Paul. The church tower
has a ring
of eight bells. St Peter's is now the mother church
of the Benefice of Hook Norton with Great Rollright
, Swerford
and Wigginton
.
Hook Norton Baptist
Church is among the oldest in Britain, having been founded 1640. Its present building is Georgian
, built in 1781. Hook Norton also had a Methodist
chapel, which was built in 1875.
, part of the Great Western Railway
, served Hook Norton with a railway station at East End. British Rail
ways closed the station in 1951 and closed the railway to all traffic in 1964. Tall stone pillars which supported two B&CDR viaduct
s can be seen in the valley to the south of the village.
Near Hook Norton there were several ironstone quarries, evidence of which can still be seen. The Brymbo Ironworks
, opened in 1899, had its own narrow gauge
railway and was connected to the B&CDR at at Council Hill Sidings, mile east of Hook Norton station
. The Brymbo Ironworks closed in 1946 and was dismantled in 1948.
Hook Norton Brewery
has a museum that includes a section on the history of the village.
The village's 18th century hand-pumped fire engine, which was in use until 1896, is preserved in St. Peter's parish church.
Hook Norton has a Church of England controlled
primary school, shop, a post office and general store
, a fire station
crewed by retained firefighter
s, a GPs'
practice, a dental
practice, veterinary surgery
, public library
, a Memorial village hall
, a Women's Institute and a sports and social club.
Hook Norton Brewery
is famous for brewing traditional real ale. Hook Norton hosts an annual music festival, Music at the Crossroads, that raises funds for many local charitable causes.
Hook Norton has four public houses, all of which apart from The Bell belong to the Hook Norton Brewery:
Hook Norton F.C.
plays in the Hellenic Football League
Premier Division. Hook Norton Cricket
Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Two. Hook Norton also has a tennis club, a running club and a Multi Use Games Area whose sports include netball
.
Toponym and early history
The toponym is believed to come from a ruler called Hook, whilst Norton is a development of ora-tun meaning a settlement (tun) on the side of a hill (ora), hence Hook Norton. In the Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
in AD 922 the village is called Hocnertune. In 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...
of 1086 it is called Hochenartone. Other historical spellings of the name include Hocceneretune (1050), Hogenarton (1216) and Okenardton (1263).
Today the village is colloquially known to its inhabitants as "Hooky" and sometimes as "The Hook". The village is formed of four neighbourhoods: East End, Scotland End (in the west), Down End (in the centre) and Southrop (in the south).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
records that a Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
army raided the Hook Norton area in AD 913 and the village had a 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....
by AD 922. The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Hook Norton had 76 villagers and two mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s.
Churches
The present 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...
is of 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...
origin but also has Early English, Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic features. 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...
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:...
is 11th century and is unusual in featuring pagan signs of the Zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
. St. Peter's contains a number of Mediaeval wall paintings including saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s, angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s and the Apostle
Apostle (Christian)
The term apostle is derived from Classical Greek ἀπόστολος , meaning one who is sent away, from στέλλω + από . The literal meaning in English is therefore an "emissary", from the Latin mitto + ex...
s 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...
and Saint Paul. The church 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...
has a 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 eight bells. St Peter's is now the mother church
Mother Church
In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...
of the Benefice of Hook Norton with Great Rollright
Great Rollright
Great Rollright is a village in the civil parish of Rollright, about north of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.The Mediaeval Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew has features dating from the Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The church tower has a ring of six...
, Swerford
Swerford
Swerford is a village and civil parish on the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is about northeast of Chipping Norton. Swerford has two main neighbourhoods: Church End and East End...
and Wigginton
Wigginton, Oxfordshire
Wigginton is a village and civil parish about southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire.Remains of a large Roman villa have been found in the village about southwest of the parish church....
.
Hook Norton Baptist
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, despite its name, is the association of Baptist churches in England and Wales. -History:...
Church is among the oldest in Britain, having been founded 1640. Its present building is Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
, built in 1781. Hook Norton also had a 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, which was built in 1875.
Economic history
The former Banbury and Cheltenham Direct RailwayBanbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway is a former railway in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, England.-Origins and development:...
, part of 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...
, served Hook Norton with a railway station at East End. 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 closed the station in 1951 and closed the railway to all traffic in 1964. Tall stone pillars which supported two B&CDR viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s can be seen in the valley to the south of the village.
Near Hook Norton there were several ironstone quarries, evidence of which can still be seen. The Brymbo Ironworks
Brymbo Ironworks railway
The Hook Norton ironstone quarries were ironstone quarries near Hook Norton in Oxfordshire. The quarries were in operation from 1899 to 1946 supplying ironstone to the Brymbo Steelworks in Wrexham and were served by an extensive narrow gauge industrial railway.- History :The original Brymbo...
, opened in 1899, had its own narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
railway and was connected to the B&CDR at at Council Hill Sidings, mile east of Hook Norton station
Hook Norton railway station
Hook Norton railway station served the village of Hook Norton in northern Oxfordshire, England.-History:The station was built for the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, which was operated by the Great Western Railway before complete takeover in 1897...
. The Brymbo Ironworks closed in 1946 and was dismantled in 1948.
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...
has a museum that includes a section on the history of the village.
The village's 18th century hand-pumped fire engine, which was in use until 1896, is preserved in St. Peter's parish church.
Amenities
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, shop, a post office and general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
, a fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
crewed by retained firefighter
Retained firefighter
A retained firefighter, also known as a Firefighter working the Retained Duty System , RDS Firefighter, part-time firefighter or on-call firefighter, in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a professional firefighter who may have full-time employment outside of the fire service but responds to...
s, a GPs'
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
practice, a dental
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
practice, veterinary surgery
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
, public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
, a Memorial 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...
, a Women's Institute and a sports and social club.
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...
is famous for brewing traditional real ale. Hook Norton hosts an annual music festival, Music at the Crossroads, that raises funds for many local charitable causes.
Hook Norton has four public houses, all of which apart from The Bell belong to the Hook Norton Brewery:
- The Bell
- The Gate Hangs High
- The Pear Tree Inn
- The Sun Inn
Hook Norton F.C.
Hook Norton F.C.
Hook Norton F.C. is a village football club based in Hook Norton, near Banbury, England.In the 2002–03 season, it entered into the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Vase. For the 2011–12 season, they are members of the Hellenic Football League Division One West...
plays in the Hellenic Football League
Hellenic Football League
The Hellenic Football League is an English football league covering an area including the English counties of Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, southern Buckinghamshire, southern Herefordshire, western Greater London, and northern Wiltshire. There is also one team from Hampshire.The league...
Premier Division. Hook Norton Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Two. Hook Norton also has a tennis club, a running club and a Multi Use Games Area whose sports include netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
.