Stonesfield
Encyclopedia
Stonesfield is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Witney
in Oxfordshire
.
The village is on the crest of an escarpment
. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to the Glyme
at Glympton
and Wootton
about 3 miles (5 km) to the north-east. South of the Stonesfield, below the escarpment is the River Evenlode
.
Roman road
forms part of the south-eastern boundary of the parish. In a field just east of the village is the site of a Roman villa
that was very close to the Roman road.
A tenant farmer, George Handes (or Hannes), found the villa in 1712 when his plough revealed the remains of a Roman
pavement dating from the 3rd or 4th century AD. One of its panels showed the Roman god Bacchus riding a panther. Handes' landlord, Richard Fowler of Great Barrington
, Gloucestershire, did not welcome the discovery and he quarrelled with Handes over any profit to be had from excavating and displaying the pavement.
The pavement immediately attracted the interest of the Oxford academic Thomas Hearne
, soon followed by Bernard Gardiner
. However, in 1724 the pioneering archaeologist William Stukeley
reported that Handes had destroyed the pavement as a result of the dispute with Fowler. Nevertheless, in 1780 the antiquarian Daines Barrington
reported that much of the room and pavement found in 1712 still survived and a second, smaller room with a tesselated floor was being excavated. At the same time parts of the villa's baths
were also excavated. In 1789 Richard Gough
reported in his new edition of William Camden
's Britannia that much of the pavement had been destroyed.
In 1801 Stonesfield's common land
s were enclosed
and the division of land caused further damage to the remains of the villa. In 1813 the antiquarian James Brewer
reported in the Oxfordshire volume of his The Beauties of England and Wales that only fragments of the pavement found in 1712 had survived destruction. In 1826 the Ashmolean Museum
acquired hypocaust
flue-tiles from the site and the base of a pillar that may also be from the hypocaust. In 1836 a small coin from the reign of the 4th century Emperor Valentinian
was found.
In 1858 a visitor called Akerman learnt that the remains of the villa had been totally destroyed. During the Second World War
aerial archaeology
discovered a number of Roman and other archaeological sites in this part of Oxfordshire. However, despite repeated attempts in different seasons and under different crop conditions, aerial archaeology has found no surviving trace of the villa at Stonesfield.
About 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Stonesfield, on the other side of the River Evenlode and in the next parish, the remains of North Leigh Roman Villa
survive in the care of English Heritage
.
when its toponym
was Stunsfeld (meaning "fools field"). This was because of the stony nature of the soil in the area, so the mutation of the name is most appropriate. Thomas Hearne used the spelling "Stunsfield" in 1712 and Akerman spelt it "Stuntesfield" in 1854.
Until 1900 Stonesfield was principally a farming and slate
mining village. This type of Cotswold stone
slate is common on roofs in the Cotswolds
and the Vale of White Horse
. Many of the older buildings of Oxford University have Stonesfield slate roofs.
The first fossil bones to be described as those of a dinosaur
of the genus Megalosaurus
were found close to Stonesfield and named in 1824 by William Buckland
. The slate-mining activities unearthed many finds in succeeding years.
During the 1960s and 1970s new houses were built on the eastern side of the village. Most of these and all of the old cottages and larger modern houses in the original part of the village are now unaffordable to the children of locals, many of whom consequently have moved out of the area.
which his father, Bob Hain, had helped to raise funds to build. Bob has devoted much of his life to the village and is a well known character. It used to be joked that Bob was a member of every club and society in the village except the Women's Institute (and he used to be the teller for their elections at the AGM). As well as being involved with the village hall, he has also run the youth club; started the tennis club; been an active member of the parish church and also helped to run the St. James's Centre lunch club at the former parish school. He ran Cheshire Homes Aids for the Disabled (CHAD)
for ten years, sending discarded wheelchairs overseas, for which he was awarded an MBE
.
. An hourly bus service between Charlbury
, Woodstock
and Oxford
serves Stonesfield. Worths' Coaches of Enstone operated the route from the 1920s until 2004, when Oxfordshire County Council
awarded the contract to Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.
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'....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
The village is on the crest of an escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to the 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...
at Glympton
Glympton
Glympton is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about north of Woodstock, Oxfordshire.-Prehistory:Grim's Ditch in the southern part of the parish, just north of Grim's Dyke Farm, was dug in the 1st century. The surviving section is about long....
and Wootton
Wootton, West Oxfordshire
Wootton is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about north of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The village is sometimes referred to as Wootton-by-Woodstock to distinguish it from Wootton, Vale of White Horse, which was in Berkshire but was transferred to Oxfordshire in the 1974 local authority...
about 3 miles (5 km) to the north-east. South of the Stonesfield, below the escarpment is 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...
.
Archaeology
The course of Akeman StreetAkeman 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...
forms part of the south-eastern boundary of the parish. In a field just east of the village is the site of a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
that was very close to the Roman road.
A tenant farmer, George Handes (or Hannes), found the villa in 1712 when his plough revealed the remains of a Roman
Roman 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...
pavement dating from the 3rd or 4th century AD. One of its panels showed the Roman god Bacchus riding a panther. Handes' landlord, Richard Fowler of Great Barrington
Great Barrington
Great Barrington is the name of more than one place:*Great Barrington, Gloucestershire in England*Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the United States...
, Gloucestershire, did not welcome the discovery and he quarrelled with Handes over any profit to be had from excavating and displaying the pavement.
The pavement immediately attracted the interest of the Oxford academic Thomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
, soon followed by Bernard Gardiner
Bernard Gardiner
Bernard Gardiner was an academic at the University of Oxford, serving as Warden of All Souls College, Oxford and also as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.-Life:...
. However, in 1724 the pioneering archaeologist William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
reported that Handes had destroyed the pavement as a result of the dispute with Fowler. Nevertheless, in 1780 the antiquarian Daines Barrington
Daines Barrington
Daines Barrington, FRS was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist.Barrington was the fourth son of the first Viscount Barrington. He was educated for the profession of the law, and after filling various posts, was appointed a Welsh judge in 1757 and afterwards second justice of Chester...
reported that much of the room and pavement found in 1712 still survived and a second, smaller room with a tesselated floor was being excavated. At the same time parts of the villa's baths
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
were also excavated. In 1789 Richard Gough
Richard Gough (antiquarian)
Richard Gough was an English antiquarian.He was born in London, where his father was a wealthy M.P. and director of the British East India Company. In 1751 he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he began his work on British topography, published in 1768...
reported in his new edition of William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
's Britannia that much of the pavement had been destroyed.
In 1801 Stonesfield's common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s were enclosed
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...
and the division of land caused further damage to the remains of the villa. In 1813 the antiquarian James Brewer
James Norris Brewer
James Norris Brewer , was an English topographer and novelist.Brewer was the eldest son of a merchant of London. He wrote many romances and topographical compilations, the best of the latter being his contributions to the series called the 'Beauties of England and Wales.' All the former are now...
reported in the Oxfordshire volume of his The Beauties of England and Wales that only fragments of the pavement found in 1712 had survived destruction. In 1826 the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
acquired hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
flue-tiles from the site and the base of a pillar that may also be from the hypocaust. In 1836 a small coin from the reign of the 4th century Emperor Valentinian
Valentinian
Valentinian was the name of several Roman emperors:* Valentinian I , Roman Emperor from 364 to 375, son of Gratian the Elder, commonly known as Valentinian the Great* Valentinian II , Roman Emperor from 375 to 392...
was found.
In 1858 a visitor called Akerman learnt that the remains of the villa had been totally destroyed. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
aerial archaeology
Aerial archaeology
Aerial archaeology is the study of archaeological remains by examining them from altitude.The advantages of gaining a good aerial view of the ground had been long appreciated by archaeologists as a high viewpoint permits a better appreciation of fine details and their relationships within the wider...
discovered a number of Roman and other archaeological sites in this part of Oxfordshire. However, despite repeated attempts in different seasons and under different crop conditions, aerial archaeology has found no surviving trace of the villa at Stonesfield.
About 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Stonesfield, on the other side of the River Evenlode and in the next parish, the remains of North Leigh Roman Villa
North Leigh Roman Villa
North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about north of the hamlet of East End in North Leigh civil parish in Oxfordshire. It is in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public.-Excavations:...
survive in the care of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
History
Stonesfield is mentioned in 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...
when its toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
was Stunsfeld (meaning "fools field"). This was because of the stony nature of the soil in the area, so the mutation of the name is most appropriate. Thomas Hearne used the spelling "Stunsfield" in 1712 and Akerman spelt it "Stuntesfield" in 1854.
Until 1900 Stonesfield was principally a farming and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
mining village. This type of Cotswold stone
Cotswold stone
Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic limestone quarried in many places in the Cotswold Hills in the south midlands of England. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as 'honey' or 'golden'....
slate is common on roofs in the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
and the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
. Many of the older buildings of Oxford University have Stonesfield slate roofs.
The first fossil bones to be described as those of a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
of the genus Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus is a genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period of Europe...
were found close to Stonesfield and named in 1824 by William Buckland
William Buckland
The Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
. The slate-mining activities unearthed many finds in succeeding years.
During the 1960s and 1970s new houses were built on the eastern side of the village. Most of these and all of the old cottages and larger modern houses in the original part of the village are now unaffordable to the children of locals, many of whom consequently have moved out of the area.
Stonesfield residents
The artist Rob Hain lived in Stonesfield from 1962 until 1980 when he moved to the Scottish Borders. Rob worked on a series of mural panels for the village hallVillage 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...
which his father, Bob Hain, had helped to raise funds to build. Bob has devoted much of his life to the village and is a well known character. It used to be joked that Bob was a member of every club and society in the village except the Women's Institute (and he used to be the teller for their elections at the AGM). As well as being involved with the village hall, he has also run the youth club; started the tennis club; been an active member of the parish church and also helped to run the St. James's Centre lunch club at the former parish school. He ran Cheshire Homes Aids for the Disabled (CHAD)
Leonard Cheshire Disability
Leonard Cheshire Disability is a major health and welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1948 by RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire VC.In 2006–7 it had a total expenditure of £143 million, placing it in the top 30 of UK charities.-History:...
for ten years, sending discarded wheelchairs overseas, for which he was awarded an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
.
Notable people
- Basil EastwoodBasil EastwoodBasil Eastwood is a previous British Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic and a previous British Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation . He has held posts in Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Germany and Sudan .In 1998 he co-founded Cecily's Fund, a charity that helps Zambian orphans by funding...
, British Ambassador (Syria 1996–2000; Switzerland 2001–04), lived in Stonesfield until retirement, and founded the charity Cecily's FundCecily's FundCecily's Fund is a UK based charity that enables impoverished children to go to school in Zambia, with a particular focus on those orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS....
in the village. A Cecily's Day picnic is held every year in Stonesfield Manor. - Nicholas HooperNicholas HooperNicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions Land of the Tiger and Andes to Amazon, as well as the TV movies The Girl in the Café and My Family and Other Animals among others...
, composer, has lived in Stonesfield since the 1980s. - Robert Sherlaw JohnsonRobert Sherlaw JohnsonRobert Sherlaw Johnson , was a British composer, pianist and music scholar. Sherlaw Johnson was one of that group of post-war British musicians whose work reflected wider European interests in new ideas, techniques and aesthetics...
, composer, lived in Stonesfield from the late 1960s until his death in 2000. - Caroline LucasCaroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, leader of the Green Party of England and WalesGreen Party of England and WalesThe Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
, lived in Stonesfield until her election as an MEPMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
in 1999. - Walter PadburyWalter PadburyWalter Padbury was an Australian pioneer and philanthropist.Padbury was born at Stonesfield, near Woodstock, in the English county of Oxfordshire. He arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia in the Protector with his father on 25 February 1830, but in the following July his father died...
, the Australian pioneer and philanthropist who arrived in Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
in February 1830, was born in Stonesfield.
Transport
The nearest railway station is at on the Cotswold LineCotswold 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...
. An hourly bus service between 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...
, Woodstock
Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Woodstock is a small town northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. It is the location of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874 and is buried in the nearby village of Bladon....
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...
serves Stonesfield. Worths' Coaches of Enstone operated the route from the 1920s until 2004, when Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...
awarded the contract to Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.