Claydon, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Claydon is a village in Claydon with Clattercot
civil parish, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Banbury
in Oxfordshire. The village is about 417 feet (127.1 m) above sea level on a hill of Early Jurassic
Middle Lias
clay. Claydon is the northernmost village in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded by Warwickshire
to the west and Northamptonshire
to the east.
of Saint James the Great was a chapel
under the parish of Cropredy
until 1851. St. James' was originally Norman
, built in about 1100. The arcade
between the nave
and north aisle survives from this date, as does the south doorway. Slightly later a chapel
was added at the east end of the north aisle, linked by Early English Gothic arches to both the aisle and the chancel
. There is also a squint
from the chapel to the chancel. The bell tower
was added in the 14th century, and the chancel was extended eastwards in either the 14th or the 15th century. The south porch is a late Mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition, and the ironwork on the south door was added in 1640.
In 1856 the Bishop of Oxford
, Samuel Wilberforce
, expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the church building. In 1860 the Gothic Revival architect
William White
heavily restored
the building, including renewal of the foundations. White almost completely rebuilt the north aisle, and so altered the chancel that its original date may not be determined with certainty. The bell tower has three bells: one each from 1609 and 1611 and a tenor of 1756 recast in 1910. St. James' parish is now part of the Benefice of Shire's Edge along with those of Cropredy
, Great Bourton
, Mollington
and Wardington
.
A Primitive Methodist
congregation developed in Claydon from 1835 and built a chapel in 1846. By 1969 it no longer had its own minister and was served by visiting clergy in the Banbury Methodist
Circuit. The chapel has since closed and has been converted into a garage for the house next door.
. In 1958 Claydon House was sold and returned to being a private house.
Between 1753 and 1763 Claydon had three public house
s. By 1781 this had fallen to two, and from 1841 the number of pubs in the village fluctuated between one and two until the latter part of the 20th century. The New Inn had closed by 1969 and the Sunrising Inn closed January 1990.
Construction of the Oxford Canal
began north of Coventry
in 1769. In May 1776 it reached Fenny Compton
in Warwickshire
, 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Claydon. and by November 1777 the canal had been extended to Cropredy
in Oxfordshire, passing through Claydon parish by skirting the north and east sides of the hill on which Claydon stands. On the east side of the hill the canal's engineer Samuel Simcock built Claydon Locks, a flight of five locks that begins the canal's southward descent from its 11-mile long summit pound. Between them the five locks achieve a total rise (i.e. change in water level) of 30.5 feet (9.3 m).
Villagers farmed under the open field system
until 1776 when an Act of Parliament
enclosed
the common land
s of the parish.
In 1852 the Great Western Railway
extended its Oxford and Rugby Railway through the western edge of Claydon parish to a new railway station at . In 1872-73 the East and West Junction Railway
built a line from its Fenny Compton West railway station
to through glebe
land in the north of Claydon parish. Claydon's nearest station was 2.5 miles (4 km) to the south at , until British Rail
ways closed it in 1956.
Claydon and Clattercote School Board
was established in 1875 and opened Claydon village school in 1877. The school closed in 1948.
In 1932 the hamlet
of Clattercote
, 0.5 miles (804.7 m) south of Claydon, was added to the civil parish to form the present parish of Claydon with Clattercote.
s.
Claydon with Clattercot
Claydon with Clattercot is a civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It was formed in 1932 by merger of the parish of Claydon with the extra-parochial area of Clattercote ....
civil parish, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
in Oxfordshire. The village is about 417 feet (127.1 m) above sea level on a hill of Early Jurassic
Early Jurassic
The Early Jurassic epoch is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic period...
Middle Lias
Lias Group
The Lias Group or Lias is a lithostratigraphic unit found in a large area of western Europe, including the British Isles, the North Sea, the low countries and the north of Germany...
clay. Claydon is the northernmost village in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded by Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
to the west and 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,...
to the east.
Churches
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 James the Great was a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
under the parish of Cropredy
Cropredy
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Early history:The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book...
until 1851. St. James' was originally 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...
, built in about 1100. The arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
between the 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...
and north aisle survives from this date, as does the south doorway. Slightly later a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
was added at the east end of the north aisle, linked by Early English Gothic arches to both the aisle and the 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...
. There is also a squint
Hagioscope
A hagioscope or squint, in architecture, is an opening through the wall of a church in an oblique direction, to enable the worshippers in the transepts or other parts of the church, from which the altar was not visible, to see the elevation of the host.Hagioscopes were also sometimes known as...
from the chapel to the chancel. 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...
was added in the 14th century, and the chancel was extended eastwards in either the 14th or the 15th century. The south porch is a late Mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition, and the ironwork on the south door was added in 1640.
In 1856 the Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
, Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his time and place...
, expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the church building. In 1860 the Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
William White
William White (architect)
William White, F.S.A. was an English architect, famous for his part in 19th century Gothic Revival architecture and church restorations...
heavily restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
the building, including renewal of the foundations. White almost completely rebuilt the north aisle, and so altered the chancel that its original date may not be determined with certainty. The bell tower has three bells: one each from 1609 and 1611 and a tenor of 1756 recast in 1910. St. James' parish is now part of the Benefice of Shire's Edge along with those of Cropredy
Cropredy
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Early history:The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book...
, Great Bourton
Great Bourton
Great Bourton is a village about north of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. It is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Bourton.-History:...
, Mollington
Mollington, Oxfordshire
Mollington is a village and civil parish about north of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. It has an area of about .-History:Æthelstan Ætheling, eldest son of Æthelred the Unready willed an estate at Mollington to his father in 1014 or 1015...
and Wardington
Wardington
Wardington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northeast of Banbury. The village consists of two parts, Lower Wardington and Upper Wardington...
.
A Primitive Methodist
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
congregation developed in Claydon from 1835 and built a chapel in 1846. By 1969 it no longer had its own minister and was served by visiting clergy in the Banbury 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...
Circuit. The chapel has since closed and has been converted into a garage for the house next door.
Secular history
Historic houses in Claydon include Manor Farm built in 1720 and Claydon House built in 1852. In 1867 the vicar, Rev. G.W. Palmer, bought Claydon House to be the vicarage and had it altered by the architect Edwin DolbyEdwin Dolby
Edwin Dolby was a Victorian architect who practised in Abingdon, England.-Career:Dolby's works span the period 1863–1888. He altered, rebuilt or restored a number of Church of England parish churches, most of them in the Vale of White Horse and Oxfordshire. In 1869–70, he built Abingdon Grammar...
. In 1958 Claydon House was sold and returned to being a private house.
Between 1753 and 1763 Claydon had three 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. By 1781 this had fallen to two, and from 1841 the number of pubs in the village fluctuated between one and two until the latter part of the 20th century. The New Inn had closed by 1969 and the Sunrising Inn closed January 1990.
Construction of the Oxford Canal
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrow canal in central England linking Oxford with Coventry via Banbury and Rugby. It connects with the River Thames at Oxford, to the Grand Union Canal at the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill, and to the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction in Bedworth just...
began north of Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
in 1769. In May 1776 it reached Fenny Compton
Fenny Compton
Fenny Compton is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England, about eight miles north of Banbury. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 797. Its church of St. Peter and St. Clare was built in the 14th century...
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Claydon. and by November 1777 the canal had been extended to Cropredy
Cropredy
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Early history:The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book...
in Oxfordshire, passing through Claydon parish by skirting the north and east sides of the hill on which Claydon stands. On the east side of the hill the canal's engineer Samuel Simcock built Claydon Locks, a flight of five locks that begins the canal's southward descent from its 11-mile long summit pound. Between them the five locks achieve a total rise (i.e. change in water level) of 30.5 feet (9.3 m).
Villagers farmed under the 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...
until 1776 when an 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....
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...
the 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 of the parish.
In 1852 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...
extended its Oxford and Rugby Railway through the western edge of Claydon parish to a new railway station at . In 1872-73 the East and West Junction Railway
Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway
The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway was a small independent railway company which ran a line across the empty, untouched centre of England. It visited the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and a little of Buckinghamshire, only existing as the SMJR from 1909 to...
built a line from its Fenny Compton West railway station
Fenny Compton West railway station
Fenny Compton West railway station was a railway station serving Fenny Compton in the English county of Warwickshire.-History:It was opened by East and West Junction Railway between Stratford upon Avon and...
to through 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:...
land in the north of Claydon parish. Claydon's nearest station was 2.5 miles (4 km) to the south at , until 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 it in 1956.
Claydon and Clattercote School Board
School board (England & Wales)
School boards were public bodies in England and Wales between 1870 and 1902, which established and administered elementary schools.School boards were created in boroughs and parishes under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaigning by George Dixon, Joseph Chamberlain and the National...
was established in 1875 and opened Claydon village school in 1877. The school closed in 1948.
In 1932 the hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Clattercote
Clattercote
Clattercote or Clattercot is a hamlet in Claydon with Clattercot civil parish, just over north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-History:In the 12th century Robert de Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln granted land at Clattercote to the Gilbertine Order, on which they founded a small priory dedicated to Saint...
, 0.5 miles (804.7 m) south of Claydon, was added to the civil parish to form the present parish of Claydon with Clattercote.
Amenities
The Bygones Museum at Butlin Farm in Claydon was founded in 1972. This privately-owned museum includes a collection of steam-powered stationary engineStationary engine
A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool. They may be powered by steam; or oil-burning or internal combustion engines....
s.