Newton Purcell
Encyclopedia
Newton Purcell is a village in Newton Purcell with Shelswell
civil parish in Oxfordshire
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Brackley
in neighbouring Northamptonshire
.
that linked Alchester near Bicester
with Lactodurum
(now Towcester
) runs through the parish just east of the village. The modern road that mostly follows its course is classified as the A4421.
in 1086 did not mention Newton Purcell. The manor
was created in the 12th century as a new tun for the Purcel family, mainly with land from two neighbouring manors: Mixbury
and Fringford
. These manors had different overlords, and as a result the Purcels had feudal
obligations to both. Mixbury was part of the honour
of St. Valery
, which later became part of the Honour of Wallingford
. In 1213 Robert de St. Valery gave the mesne lord
ship of Mixbury to the Augustinian
Osney Abbey
, and the Purcels and their successors had to pay the abbey rent until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1536. In 1475 the manor was still held by a Thomas Purcel, but it had left the family by 1523. The Purcels had a moat
ed manor house
. The house has not survived, but in the 1950's fragments of its moat and a mound where it stood were still visible just east of the village.
of Saint Michael
and All Angels was built in the Norman
style in the middle of the 12th century. The earliest documentary evidence of the church's existence is slightly later, when Ralph Purcel granted the church to the Augustinian
Bicester Priory in 1200. Of this original church little survives except a 12th century Norman doorway and a 13th century piscina
. In 1813 the church was repaired and most of its original features were destroyed. In 1875 the architect C.N. Beazley
restored the building and added the vestry
, bell-turret and south porch. St. Michael's rectory was built in 1844. St. Michael's parish is now part of the Shelswell
benefice.
in 1679. There was no Act of Parliament
for the parish's enclosure
, so it must have been done by agreement. This may have been before the end of the 17th century.
The village's Church of England school was built in 1872 and enlarged in 1898. It was reorganised as a junior school in 1929 and was still open in 1954.
In 1899 the Great Central Railway
completed its main line to London
through the eastern part of the then Shelswell
parish and built Finmere for Buckingham station
where the line crosses the main road about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) northeast of Newton Purcell. Buckingham was almost 5 miles (8 km) from the Great Central station, so the name was subsequently shortened to the more appropriate "Finmere". British Rail
ways closed Finmere station in 1963, and closed the section of the Great Central line through the station and parish in 1966.
Newton Purcell was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was merged with neighbouring Shelswell
.
, the Shelswell Inn. It is on the main road close to the site of the former railway station.
Newton Purcell with Shelswell
Newton Purcell with Shelswell is a civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It was formed in 1932 by merger of the parishes of Newton Purcell and Shelswell ....
civil parish in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
in neighbouring Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
.
Early history
The course of the Roman roadRoman 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...
that linked Alchester near 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...
with Lactodurum
Lactodurum
Lactodurum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Towcester, located in the English county of Northamptonshire.Towcester lays claim to being the oldest town in Northamptonshire and possibly, because of the antiquity of recent Iron Age finds in the town, to be one of the...
(now Towcester
Towcester
Towcester , the Roman town of Lactodorum, is a small town in south Northamptonshire, England.-Etymology:Towcester comes from the Old English Tófe-ceaster. Tófe refers to the River Tove; Bosworth and Toller compare it to the "Scandinavian proper names" Tófi and Tófa...
) runs through the parish just east of the village. The modern road that mostly follows its course is classified as the A4421.
Manor
The Domesday BookDomesday 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...
in 1086 did not mention Newton Purcell. 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 created in the 12th century as a new tun for the Purcel family, mainly with land from two neighbouring manors: Mixbury
Mixbury
Mixbury is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southeast of Brackley in Northamptonshire.-Manor:The toponym is derived from the Old English mixen-burgh, meaning "fortification near dung-heap". "Burgh" refers to Beaumont Castle, which was built about 1100...
and Fringford
Fringford
Fringford is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northeast of Bicester. The parish is bounded to the east by the Roman road that linked Alchester Roman Town with Roman Towcester, to the south by a brook that joins the River Bure, to the north mostly by a brook that is a tributary of...
. These manors had different overlords, and as a result the Purcels had feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
obligations to both. Mixbury was part of the honour
Honour (land)
In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.The typical honour had...
of St. Valery
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some west of Dieppe at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads...
, which later became part of the Honour of Wallingford
Honour of Wallingford
The Honour of Wallingford was a medieval English honour located circa 1066 to 1540 in present-day Oxfordshire.The Honour of Wallingford was established after the Norman conquest of England, which began in 1066. The Honour initially encompassed Wallingford and Harpsden and thereafter gained...
. In 1213 Robert de St. Valery gave the mesne lord
Mesne lord
A mesne lord was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. A mesne lord did not hold land directly of the king, that is to say he was not a tenant-in-chief. His subinfeudated estate was called a "mesne estate"...
ship of Mixbury to the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an...
, and the Purcels and their successors had to pay the abbey rent until 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 1536. In 1475 the manor was still held by a Thomas Purcel, but it had left the family by 1523. The Purcels had a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
ed manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
. The house has not survived, but in the 1950's fragments of its moat and a mound where it stood were still visible just east of the village.
Parish church
Architectural evidence suggests that the 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 Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
and All Angels was built in 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...
style in the middle of the 12th century. The earliest documentary evidence of the church's existence is slightly later, when Ralph Purcel granted the church to the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Bicester Priory in 1200. Of this original church little survives except a 12th century Norman doorway and a 13th century piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
. In 1813 the church was repaired and most of its original features were destroyed. In 1875 the architect C.N. Beazley
Charles Beazley
Charles Nightingale Beazley , FRIBA was a British architect. His work spans the period 1853-1897.-Career:Beazley was articled to William Wardell in 1853 and was an RIBA student 1854-56. In 1856-58 he was an assistant to G.E. Street, who was the diocesan architect for the Church of England Diocese...
restored the building and added the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
, bell-turret and south porch. St. Michael's rectory was built in 1844. St. Michael's parish is now part of the Shelswell
Shelswell
Shelswell is a hamlet in Oxfordshire about south of Brackley in neighbouring Northamptonshire.-Manor:Shelswell's toponym comes from Old English and suggest's that the settlement may originally have been the well belonging to Scield, a Saxon settler. The spring that gave rise to this well is no...
benefice.
Economic and social history
The parish was still being farmed under the open field systemOpen field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
in 1679. There was no Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....
for the parish's enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
, so it must have been done by agreement. This may have been before the end of the 17th century.
The village's Church of England school was built in 1872 and enlarged in 1898. It was reorganised as a junior school in 1929 and was still open in 1954.
In 1899 the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
completed its main line to London
Great Central Main Line
The Great Central Main Line , also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , is a former railway line which opened in 1899 linking Sheffield with Marylebone Station in London via Nottingham and Leicester.The GCML was the last main line railway built in...
through the eastern part of the then Shelswell
Shelswell
Shelswell is a hamlet in Oxfordshire about south of Brackley in neighbouring Northamptonshire.-Manor:Shelswell's toponym comes from Old English and suggest's that the settlement may originally have been the well belonging to Scield, a Saxon settler. The spring that gave rise to this well is no...
parish and built Finmere for Buckingham station
Finmere railway station
Finmere was a railway station on the former Great Central Main Line which ran between and London Marylebone. It was opened in 1899 and served the nearby village of Finmere...
where the line crosses the main road about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) northeast of Newton Purcell. Buckingham was almost 5 miles (8 km) from the Great Central station, so the name was subsequently shortened to the more appropriate "Finmere". 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 Finmere station in 1963, and closed the section of the Great Central line through the station and parish in 1966.
Newton Purcell was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was merged with neighbouring Shelswell
Shelswell
Shelswell is a hamlet in Oxfordshire about south of Brackley in neighbouring Northamptonshire.-Manor:Shelswell's toponym comes from Old English and suggest's that the settlement may originally have been the well belonging to Scield, a Saxon settler. The spring that gave rise to this well is no...
.
Amenities
Newton Purcell has one 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 Shelswell Inn. It is on the main road close to the site of the former railway station.