Launton is a village and civil parish on the eastern outskirts of 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...

, 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...

. Launton is twinned with the village of Gavray

Gavray

Gavray is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France....

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

History

King Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

 gave 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 Launton to Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 in 1065. The abbey surrendered the manor 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...

 when it was suppressed in 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...

 in 1540, but in 1542 the Crown granted Launton to the abbey's Dean and Chapter. Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

 restored the Roman Catholic church in England so in 1556 Launton was surrendered to the Crown, who restored it to the reinstated abbott and convent of Westminster. Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 restored the English Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 so in 1560 Launton was surrendered to the Crown for a third time, who again granted it to the Dean and Chapter. In 1649 the Commonwealth of England

Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

 assigned Launton to Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

. In 1860 the lands of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster were vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners

Ecclesiastical Commissioners

Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title is Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Church of England, and they made extensive changes in how...

.

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 Mary

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

 was built in the 12th century and enlarged in the 13th century. 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...

 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 six bells and a Sanctus

Sanctus

The Sanctus is a hymn from Christian liturgy, forming part of the Order of Mass. In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...

 bell dating from 1352. St. Mary's parish is now part of the Benefice of Bicester, Bucknell

Bucknell

Bucknell may refer to:*Bucknell, Oxfordshire, England*Bucknell, Shropshire, England*Bucknell, California, United States*Bucknell Ridge*Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, United States...

, Caversfield

Caversfield

Caversfield is a village and civil parish about north of the centre of Bicester. In 1844 Caversfield became part of Oxfordshire, but until then it was always an exclave of Buckinghamshire entirely surrounded by Oxfordshire.-Early history:...

 and Launton.

Bethel chapel was built in 1850 and later became a Congregational church.

The Varsity Line

Varsity Line

The Varsity Line is an informal name for the railway route that formerly linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated successively by the London and North Western Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and British Railways...

 between and via was built through Launton parish and opened in 1851. Launton railway station

Launton railway station

Launton railway station served the village of Launton in Oxfordshire. It was on the Varsity Line between Bletchley and Oxford. The station opened in 1852; British Railways closed Launton station, and withdrew passenger services at the end of 1967.-Routes:...

 served the village until the end of 1967, when 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 between Bletchley and Oxford.

Amenities

Launton 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. The school's ties with the parish church include services such as Christingle

Christingle

A Christingle is a symbolic object, related to the pomander, used in the advent services of many Christian denominations. It has its origins in the Moravian Church....

 and Year Six leavers services. The school holds regular fund raising events including an annual Easter egg hunt.

Launton has two 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...

s. The larger, The Bull Inn, is on the crossroads at the heart of the village. The smaller, The Black Bull, is in West End.

Launton has a Parish 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...

 that is used for regular events including Cub Scout

Cub Scout

A Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged about 7 to 11. In some countries they are known by their original name of Wolf Cubs and are often referred to simply as Cubs. The movement is often referred to simply as Cubbing...

 troop meetings, keep fit, and a watercolour group.

The Sports and Social Club provides the home pitch for Launton Football Club, as well as a tennis court and small child play area.

The Launton Village Players is an amateur theatre

Amateur theatre

Amateur theatre is theatre performed by amateur actors. These actors are not typically members of Actors' Equity groups or Actors' Unions as these organizations exist to protect the professional industry and therefore discourage their members from appearing with companies which are not a signatory...

 group living in and around Launton who perform an annual pantomime

Pantomime

Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

 at The Cooper School in Bicester, and musical shows and plays in the village.

The village has a Woods on your Doorstep at Island Pond Wood, managed by The Woodland Trust. Villagers bought it by public subscription and planted it in 1999.

The village has also a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, Londis

Londis

Londis is the name for two convenience store franchises operating in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The stores form a symbol group and are all owned on a franchise basis.-Great Britain:...

 store, a butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

s and a hair salon.

Public transport

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire route S5 links Launton with Bicester, Gosford 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...

. This service runs hourly, Mondays to Saturdays only and gives no late evening or Sunday service.

Arriva the Shires routes give Launton services to Bicester and Steeple Claydon

Steeple Claydon

Steeple Claydon is a village and also a civil parish within the district of Aylesbury Vale in Buckinghamshire, England. It has an unusually high number of gingers, it is speculated that this is due to most people's mums also being their aunts. Steeple Claydon is located about four miles south of...

 (routes 16 and 18), Aylesbury

Aylesbury

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

 (route 16 only) and Buckingham

Buckingham

Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...

 (route 18 only). Routes 16 and 18 run only a few times each day, Mondays to Saturdays only and give no late evening or Sunday service.

During school terms the village is also served by school coaches to and from Blessed George Napier RC School, Banbury.