Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell

River Cherwell

The River Cherwell is a river which flows through the Midlands of England. It is a major tributary of the River Thames.The general course of the River Cherwell is north to south and the 'straight-line' distance from its source to the Thames is about...

, 4 miles (6.4 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

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

.

Early history

The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book

Domesday 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...

. 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...

 comes from the Old English words cropp (a hill) and ridig (a stream).

Church and chapels

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 the Virgin

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...

 is built of the local ironstone

Ironstone

Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...

, which is a ferrous Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 limestone. Parts of the south aisle date from the 13th century. However, most of the present building was built in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style, including 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...

 arch, 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...

 arcades, east window and most of the windows in the south aisle. In the 15th century a clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

 was added above the nave, the north aisle was rebuilt with new windows, and both aisles were extended eastwards to form side chapels; all in the Perpendicular Gothic style.

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 peal

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 bells. There used to be six, but in 2007 two new treble bells increased this to eight. One of the new bells is named St Mary; the other Fairport Convention Festival Bell.

St. Mary's parish is now part of the Benefice of Shire's Edge along with those of Claydon

Claydon, Oxfordshire

Claydon is a village in Claydon with Clattercot civil parish, about north of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The village is about above sea level on a hill of Early Jurassic Middle Lias clay. Claydon is the northernmost village in Oxfordshire...

, 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...

.

By the 13th century Cropredy was associated with the legend of Saint Fremund

Saint Fremund

-History:Legend has it that Fremund was a son of King Offa of Mercia. However he gave up his royal life to become a hermit and sailing with twelve companions from Caerleon-on-Usk, eventually landed on an island called "llefaye" where they established a hermitage...

, a Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

n who was said to have been martyred in the 9th century. Fremund's relics are supposed to have been moved from Offchurch

Offchurch

Offchurch is a village and civil parish on the River Leam, east of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.-History:There is a possibility that it was home to Offa, who was King of Mercia from 757 to 796. King Offa had a church built in the village...

 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...

 to Prescote

Prescote

Prescote is a hamlet and civil parish about north of Banbury in Oxfordshire Its boundaries are the River Cherwell in the southeast, a tributary of the Cherwell called Highfurlong Brook in the west, and Oxfordshire's boundary with Northamptonshire in the northeast.-History:Prescote's toponym...

, where they were lost for a time and then rediscovered and moved to Cropredy. They were then moved to the Augustinian

Augustinians

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...

 Priory at Dunstable

Dunstable Priory

The Priory Church of St Peter with its monastery was founded in 1132 by Henry I for Augustinian Canons in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. St Peter’s today is a large and impressive building, but this is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Augustinian priory church...

, probably in 1207, but an association with Fremund remained at Cropredy. There are records of gifts to a chapel and shrine

Shrine

A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

 to the saint here in 1488 and 1539, and a chantry

Chantry

Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...

 priest serving in St. Fremund's chapel in 1489. During 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....

 under Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

 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...

 sold the chapel and its contents in 1549 and it was probably demolished. No trace remains, its site is unknown and it is not clear whether the shrine chapel was at St. Mary's church or elsewhere in the parish.

A 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...

 chapel had been built by 1822. The congregation outgrew it so a larger chapel was built on a new site in 1881.

Secular history

From 1519 onwards Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...

 owned extensive land in Cropredy. Manor Farm was built in 1693 and Prescote 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 built in 1721.

Cropredy Bridge

Cropredy Bridge

Cropredy Bridge was first built in 1312 and carries a road into a village of the same name beside the upper reaches of the River Cherwell at Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England...

 on the River Cherwell was the site of a major battle

Battle of Cropredy Bridge

The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was a battle of the English Civil Wars, fought on 29 June 1644 between a Parliamentarian army under Sir William Waller and the Royalist army of King Charles...

 in 1644 during the English civil war

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. King Charles'

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 engaged the Parliamentarian

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

 army led by Sir William Waller

William Waller

Sir William Waller was an English soldier during the English Civil War. He received his education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and served in the Venetian army and in the Thirty Years' War...

. The battle was a stalemate

Stalemate

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....

; Parliamentarian side suffered heavy casualties but ultimately prevented the King's forces from crossing the bridge. A plaque on the bridge bears the inscription: “Site of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644. From Civil War deliver us.” Prior to the battle, some of the church valuables were hidden in the River Cherwell; these included the brass eagle lectern, which was not recovered for fifty years, during which time it was damaged.

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 at Hawkesbury Junction

Hawkesbury Junction

Hawkesbury Junction or Sutton Stop is a canal junction at the northern limit of the Oxford Canal where it meets the Coventry Canal, near Hawkesbury Village, Warwickshire, on the West Midlands county border, England...

 on the Coventry Canal

Coventry Canal

The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.It starts in Coventry and ends 38 miles north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal...

 in 1769 and reached Cropredy in October 1777. The canal passes between the River Cherwell and the village. There is a canal lock here, and at the south end of the village a wharf

Wharf

A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...

 was built. This originally handled coal from the 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...

 coalfield, and now serves the canal's popular leisure traffic. The wharf was briefly the canal's terminus, until the section from Cropredy to Banbury opened in March 1778. The canal finally reached 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...

 and the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 at the end of 1789.

The Oxford and Rugby Railway had been built from northwards past Cropredy by 1852. It never reached , but at it met the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway and thus became part of an important north-south main line. 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...

 took over the O&RR before it was completed, and opened Cropredy railway station

Cropredy railway station

Cropredy railway station was formerly a railway station on the Great Western Railway at Cropredy, Oxfordshire. The station building was of brick and wood, and there was a goods siding.-History:...

 to serve the village. 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 the station in 1956.

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...

, Cropredy and Bourton

Bourton, Oxfordshire

Bourton is the name of two villages in Oxfordshire*Bourton, Cherwell*Bourton, Vale of White Horse...

 School, was opened in Cropredy in 1855. In 1867 it was renamed simply Cropredy School and a second classroom was added. In 1947 it was reorganised as a junior and infant school. Today it is 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.

Amenities

Cropredy has two public houses: the 17th century Brasenose Arms and the Red Lion. The village has a G.P.'s practice and several shops.

Annual music festival

On farmland east of the village the electric folk

Electric folk

Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...

 band Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention

Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...

 stages an annual three-day music festival titled Fairport's Cropredy Convention. The festival has expanded from a one-day event first held in 1980 (although the band had played fundraisers in the village since 1976). The festival presents a varied line-up of music but Fairport Convention always plays the closing set on the Saturday night. 'Big name' artists such as Richard Thompson and Robert Plant

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

 regularly perform. Most festival-goers camp on the festival site but some arrive by narrowboat

Narrowboat

A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...

 on the canal. In 2007 the festival sold all available tickets before it opened, the first time this had been achieved.

See article Fairport's Cropredy Convention