Wendlebury
Encyclopedia
Wendlebury is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Bicester
and about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) from Junction 9 of the M40
. The village is on a steam that flows through the centre of the village parallel with the main street.
The toponym
is derived from Old English, meaning the burh
of a Saxon
named Wændel.
in the 11th century one Asgar held the manor
. After the Conquest, William the Conqueror
granted Wendlebury to Geoffrey de Mandeville
. The manor remained with his heirs, including his grandson of the same name whom King Stephen
made 1st Earl of Essex
in about 1140. The de Mandeville lineage became extinct upon the death of William FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex
in 1227, and its manors including Wendlebury passed to Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford
in 1236. Henry III
made Humphrey Earl of Essex in 1239. Wendlebury remained with the Earls of Hereford and Essex until the death of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
in 1373.
The manor of Wendlebury then consisted of two knight's fee
s. After the 7th Earl's death the manor was divided, with one fee passing to the Earl's elder daughter Eleanor de Bohun
, wife of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
. There is no known record to indicate whether the other fee passed to Eleanor's younger sister Mary de Bohun
, wife of Henry Bolingbroke
. Eleanor's half of Wendlebury seems to have passed to Thomas and Eleanor's daughter Anne of Gloucester
, for in 1403 it belonged to Anne's second husband Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford
. There is no known record of the overlordship of Wendlebury after 1403, so it seems to have lapsed.
At the time of the Hundred Rolls
in 1279, Thame Abbey
held five virgate
s of land at Wendlebury. The abbey seems to have disposed of this land before 1317, as an inventory of its estates at that time makes no mention of Wendlebury. Rewley Abbey
was founded in 1281 and by 1293 held at Wendlebury eight virgates of arable land plus 20 acres (8 ha) of meadow. Rewley retained this minor estate until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in the 16th centuries, when it passed to Thomas Pope of Wroxton Abbey
.
The present manor house
was built in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century.
of Saint Giles
is from early in the 13th century. It was cruciform until 1639, when the south transept
was found to be so unsafe that it was demolished.
In 1757 the remainder of the building was found unsafe and in March 1761 everything but the belltower was demolished. By September that same year a new nave
, chancel
and two transepts had been completed, incorporating from the old church general building materials, early Decorated Gothic windows from about 1300 and a Perpendicular Gothic doorway.
The foundations continued to give trouble and in 1901–02 the medieval tower and 18th century south transept were demolished. At the same time the architect J. Oldrid Scott
restored remainder of the building, renewing the roof and installing new seating. The tower had three bells: two cast in the 16th century and the third in 1695. Since the demolition of the tower these have stood in the west end of the nave. The west gable of the nave now has a bell-cot
with one bell.
St. Giles' is now part of the Benefice of Akeman, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon
, Chesterton
, Hampton Gay
, Kirtlington
, Middleton Stoney
and Weston-on-the-Green
.
The Old Rectory was built in 1840, replacing an earlier house that had existed by 1634.
, the Red Lion. It was built in the 17th century and seems to have been trading as an inn by 1732. In 1790 a farmer from Merton
started a brewery in the village but the business failed and in 1809 was put up for sale. A Bicester brewer bought it in 1820.
An open field system
of farming prevailed in the parish until 1801, when its common land
s were enclosed by Act of Parliament. 1160 acres (469.4 ha) of land were enclosed, of which 500 acres (202.3 ha) were awarded to the lord of the manor
, Thomas Coker.
Rev. George Dupuis, who was rector 1789–1839, farmed Wendlebury's 25 acres (10.1 ha) of glebe
himself. When Wendlebury was enclosed the tithes were commuted for 189 acres (76.5 ha) of land. This gave Dupuis more space in which to exercise improved farming techniques
, including a seven-year crop rotation
.
A National School
was opened in 1850 and new school buildings for it were completed in 1863. In 1927 it was reorganised as a junior school, with pupils of secondary school age thereafter going to Bicester. It became a controlled school
in 1952.
The Oxford and Bletchley Railway, completed in 1851 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway
, passes through the parish. The London and North Western Railway
took over the Buckinghamshire Railway in 1879 and opened southeast of the village in 1905. The Railways Act 1921
made the L&NWR part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway
, which closed Wendlebury Halt in 1926. The stretch of line between Oxford and Bicester is now the Bicester Link
. The line's nearest station to Wendlebury is now , 2 miles (3.2 km) away.
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...
and about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) from Junction 9 of the M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
. The village is on a steam that flows through the centre of the village parallel with the main street.
The 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...
is derived from Old English, meaning the burh
Burh
A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the...
of a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
named Wændel.
Manor
Before the Norman conquest of EnglandNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in the 11th century one Asgar held 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...
. After the Conquest, William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
granted Wendlebury to Geoffrey de Mandeville
Geoffrey de Mandeville (11th century)
Geoffrey de Mandeville may have been Constable of the Tower of London. His surname comes from the town of Manneville or Magna Villa near Valognes in Manche on the Cotentin Peninsula...
. The manor remained with his heirs, including his grandson of the same name whom King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
made 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex was one of the prominent players during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J. H...
in about 1140. The de Mandeville lineage became extinct upon the death of William FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex
William FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex
William fitz Geoffrey de Mandeville was the third Earl of Essex of the second creation from 1216 to his death. He was the second son of Geoffrey fitz Peter and Beatrice de Say and he succeeded his elder brother Geoffrey fitz Geoffrey as earl and inheritor of the Mandeville barony...
in 1227, and its manors including Wendlebury passed to Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun was 2nd Earl of Hereford and 1st Earl of Essex, as well as Constable of England. He was the son of Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford and Maud of Essex.- Career :...
in 1236. Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
made Humphrey Earl of Essex in 1239. Wendlebury remained with the Earls of Hereford and Essex until the death of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, KG was an important medieval English noble during the reign of King Edward III of England.- Lineage :...
in 1373.
The manor of Wendlebury then consisted of two knight's fee
Knight's fee
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a measure of a unit of land deemed sufficient from which a knight could derive not only sustenance for himself and his esquires, but also the means to furnish himself and his equipage with horses and armour to fight for his overlord in...
s. After the 7th Earl's death the manor was divided, with one fee passing to the Earl's elder daughter Eleanor de Bohun
Eleanor de Bohun
Eleanor de Bohun was the elder daughter and co-heiress with her sister Mary de Bohun, of their father Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. Her mother was Lady Joan Fitzalan, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.-Marriage:In 1376 she...
, wife of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Buckingham, 1st Earl of Essex, Duke of Aumale, KG was the thirteenth and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
. There is no known record to indicate whether the other fee passed to Eleanor's younger sister Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V. Mary was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne.-Early life:...
, wife of Henry Bolingbroke
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
. Eleanor's half of Wendlebury seems to have passed to Thomas and Eleanor's daughter Anne of Gloucester
Anne of Gloucester
Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford was the eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun.-Family:...
, for in 1403 it belonged to Anne's second husband Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford
Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford
Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 6th Baron Audley, KB, KG was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp....
. There is no known record of the overlordship of Wendlebury after 1403, so it seems to have lapsed.
At the time of the Hundred Rolls
Hundred Rolls
The Hundred Rolls are a census of England and parts of what is now Wales taken in the late thirteenth century. Often considered an attempt to produce a second Domesday Book, they are named for the hundreds by which most returns were recorded....
in 1279, Thame Abbey
Thame Abbey
Thame Abbey was a Cistercian abbey at Thame in the English county of Oxfordshire.Thame Abbey was founded in 1137 by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln. It was dissolved in 1539. Most of the building stone was removed from the site, but the Abbot's House remained standing and was turned into a country...
held five virgate
Virgate
The virgate or yardland was a unit of land area measurement used in medieval England, typically outside the Danelaw, and was held to be the amount of land that a team of two oxen could plough in a single annual season. It was equivalent to a quarter of a hide, so was nominally thirty acres...
s of land at Wendlebury. The abbey seems to have disposed of this land before 1317, as an inventory of its estates at that time makes no mention of Wendlebury. Rewley Abbey
Rewley Abbey
The Cistercian Abbey of Rewley was an Abbey in Oxford, England. It was founded in the 13th century by Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. Edmund's father, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, founder of Hayles Abbey, had intended to establish a college or chantry of three secular priests to pray for his...
was founded in 1281 and by 1293 held at Wendlebury eight virgates of arable land plus 20 acres (8 ha) of meadow. Rewley retained this minor estate 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 the 16th centuries, when it passed to Thomas Pope of Wroxton Abbey
Wroxton Abbey
Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean house in Oxfordshire, with a 1727 garden partly converted to the serpentine style between 1731 and 1751. It is west of Banbury, off the A422, in Wroxton St. Mary. It is now the English campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University....
.
The present 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...
was built in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century.
Parish church
The earliest known record of 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 Giles
Saint Giles
Saint Giles was a Greek Christian hermit saint from Athens, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela, the...
is from early in the 13th century. It was cruciform until 1639, when the south transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
was found to be so unsafe that it was demolished.
In 1757 the remainder of the building was found unsafe and in March 1761 everything but the belltower was demolished. By September that same year a new nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and two transepts had been completed, incorporating from the old church general building materials, early Decorated Gothic windows from about 1300 and a Perpendicular Gothic doorway.
The foundations continued to give trouble and in 1901–02 the medieval tower and 18th century south transept were demolished. At the same time the architect J. Oldrid Scott
John Oldrid Scott
John Oldrid Scott was an English architect.He was the son of Sir George Gilbert Scott and Caroline née Oldrid. His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, were also prominent architects. He married Mary Ann Stevens in 1868, eldest daughter of the Reverend Thomas...
restored remainder of the building, renewing the roof and installing new seating. The tower had three bells: two cast in the 16th century and the third in 1695. Since the demolition of the tower these have stood in the west end of the nave. The west gable of the nave now has a bell-cot
Bell-Cot
A bell-cot, bell-cote or bellcote, is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells, supported on brackets projecting from a wall or built on the roof of chapels or churches which have no towers. It often holds the Sanctus bell rung at the Consecration....
with one bell.
St. Giles' is now part of the Benefice of Akeman, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon
Bletchingdon
Bletchingdon is a village and civil parish north of Kidlington and southwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England.-Manor and estates:...
, Chesterton
Chesterton, Oxfordshire
Chesterton is a village and civil parish on Gagle Brook, a tributary of the River Bure in Oxfordshire. The village is about southwest of the market town of Bicester...
, Hampton Gay
Hampton Gay
Hampton Gay is a village in the Cherwell valley about north of Kidlington, Oxfordshire.-Manor:After the Norman Conquest of England Robert D'Oyly gave an estate of three hides at Hampton Gay to his brother in arms Roger d'Ivry, while a second estate of two hides at Hampton Gay belonged to the...
, Kirtlington
Kirtlington
Kirtlington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about west of Bicester.-Archaeology:The Portway is a pre-Roman road running parallel with the River Cherwell on high ground about east of the river. It bisects Kirtlington parish and passes through the village. A short stretch of it is now...
, Middleton Stoney
Middleton Stoney
Middleton Stoney is a village and civil parish about west of Bicester, Oxfordshire.-History:Aves ditch is pre-Saxon and may have been dug as a boundary ditch...
and Weston-on-the-Green
Weston-on-the-Green
Weston-on-the-Green is a village and civil parish about southwest of Bicester.-Manor:Wigod of Wallingford held the manor of Weston at the time of the Norman conquest of England. Wigod died shortly after the conquest, leaving his estates including Weston to his son-in-law, the Norman baron Robert...
.
The Old Rectory was built in 1840, replacing an earlier house that had existed by 1634.
Social and economic history
Wendlebury 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 Red Lion. It was built in the 17th century and seems to have been trading as an inn by 1732. In 1790 a farmer from Merton
Merton, Oxfordshire
Merton is a village and civil parish near the River Ray, about south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England.-Archaeology:In 1978 a Middle Bronze Age spearhead was found at West End Farm on the northwestern side of the village.-Manor:...
started a brewery in the village but the business failed and in 1809 was put up for sale. A Bicester brewer bought it in 1820.
An open field system
Open 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...
of farming prevailed in the parish until 1801, when its 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 by Act of Parliament. 1160 acres (469.4 ha) of land were enclosed, of which 500 acres (202.3 ha) were awarded to the lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
, Thomas Coker.
Rev. George Dupuis, who was rector 1789–1839, farmed Wendlebury's 25 acres (10.1 ha) of glebe
Glebe
Glebe Glebe Glebe (also known as Church furlong or parson's closes is an area of land within a manor and parish used to support a parish priest.-Medieval origins:...
himself. When Wendlebury was enclosed the tithes were commuted for 189 acres (76.5 ha) of land. This gave Dupuis more space in which to exercise improved farming techniques
British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...
, including a seven-year crop rotation
Crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons.Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals...
.
A National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
was opened in 1850 and new school buildings for it were completed in 1863. In 1927 it was reorganised as a junior school, with pupils of secondary school age thereafter going to Bicester. It became a controlled school
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...
in 1952.
The Oxford and Bletchley Railway, completed in 1851 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway
Buckinghamshire Railway
The Buckinghamshire Railway was a railway company in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England that constructed railway lines connecting Bletchley, Banbury and Oxford...
, passes through the parish. The London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
took over the Buckinghamshire Railway in 1879 and opened southeast of the village in 1905. The Railways Act 1921
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
made the L&NWR part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
, which closed Wendlebury Halt in 1926. The stretch of line between Oxford and Bicester is now the Bicester Link
Oxford to Bicester Line
The Oxford to Bicester Line is a branch line linking Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire, England.-History:The line was opened in 1850 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway, which in 1879 became part of the London and North Western Railway...
. The line's nearest station to Wendlebury is now , 2 miles (3.2 km) away.