Enstone, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Enstone is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire
about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chipping Norton.
The civil parish is the largest in Oxfordshire, comprising the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone (referred to collectively as Enstone) and the hamlets of Chalford
, Cleveley, Fulwell
, Gagingwell
, Lidstone, and Radford
.
is derived from a standing stone called the Ent Stone, part of the ruins of a neolithic
tomb just off the Charlbury Road. The site is also known as the Hoar Stone.
of Saint Kenelm
are Norman
, but the building has been rebuilt in stages since the 12th century. The bell tower
dates from the middle of the 16th century. A stained glass
window installed in the north aisle as a First World War
memorial may have been made by Morris & Co.
East of St. Kenelm's church is a mediaeval barn that was built for Winchcombe Abbey
, a Benedictine
monastery in Gloucestershire
that owned the manor
of Enstone. The barn has a cruck
roof and a date stone fom 1382 but its manner of construction suggests it is a late 15th century building. It may therefore have been rebuilt at that time, retaining the date stone from an earlier structure.
In 1657 an attempt to merge the Benefices of Enstone and Heythrop
was abandoned in the face of local opposition. They were finally merged in 1964. In 2001 the Benefice of Enstone and Heythrop merged with that of Ascott-under-Wychwood
, Chadlington
, and Spelsbury
to form the Chase Benefice.
Enstone is at the junction of two old main roads: one between Oxford
and Chipping Norton and the other between Enstone and Bicester
. Both were once turnpikes
, the Act of Parliament
for the latter having been passed in 1797. Since the 1920s the Oxford - Chipping Norton road has been classified as part of the A44
and the Enstone - Bicester Road has been the B4030.
South of Enstone Airfield is a disused quarry. It is now the Whiteways Technical Centre, where the Lotus Renault GP motor racing
team is based.
Enstone, northeast of Church Enstone, was a Bomber Command
Operational Training Unit in the Second World War
. It was decommissioned in 1947 and is now the civilian Enstone Airfield
. The area of the former RAF buildings has been redeveloped as an industrial estate, and the northeastern perimeter of the airfield has been redeveloped as a poultry farm.
Enstone has two public house
s: the Crown at Church Enstone and the Harrow at Neat Enstone.
The village also has a County Council primary school. There is also a Post Office
and general store
, an art gallery and a retirement home
. Enstone has a Women's Institute.
Enstone Sports Sunday Football Club plays in Cherwell Trophies Sunday Morning League Division Two.
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chipping Norton.
The civil parish is the largest in Oxfordshire, comprising the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone (referred to collectively as Enstone) and the hamlets of Chalford
Old Chalford
Old Chalford is a hamlet in Enstone civil parish, about east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.Old Chalford is on the River Glyme, which is dammed in the hamlet forming a number of ponds. The Wychwood Way long distance footpath passes through the hamlet...
, Cleveley, Fulwell
Fulwell, Oxfordshire
Fulwell is a hamlet in Enstone civil parish about southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Fulwell's toponym is derived from its "foul well". The hamlet was part of the Manor of Spelsbury....
, Gagingwell
Gagingwell
Gagingwell is a hamlet in West Oxfordshire, about east of Chipping Norton and about east of Enstone.The hamlet surrounds a group of springs that give rise to a brook, which flows southwards almost to join the River Glyme just downstream of the hamlet of Radford.-History:In the late Middle Ages a...
, Lidstone, and Radford
Radford, Oxfordshire
Radford is a hamlet on the River Glyme in Enstone civil parish about east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.A.W.N. Pugin designed the Roman Catholic chapel of the Holy Trinity in a Gothic Revival version of Early English Gothic. It was built in 1841....
.
Toponym
Enstone's toponymToponymy
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 a standing stone called the Ent Stone, part of the ruins of a neolithic
Neolithic British Isles
The Neolithic British Isles refers to the period of British, Irish and Manx history that spanned from circa 4000 to circa 2,500 BCE. The final part of the Stone Age in the British Isles, it was a part of the greater Neolithic, or "New Stone Age", across Europe.During the preceding Mesolithic...
tomb just off the Charlbury Road. The site is also known as the Hoar Stone.
Parish church
The earliest parts 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 Kenelm
Kenelm
Saint Kenelm was an Anglo-Saxon saint, venerated throughout medieval England, and mentioned in the Canterbury Tales...
are 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...
, but the building has been rebuilt in stages since the 12th century. 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...
dates from the middle of the 16th century. A stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window installed in the north aisle as a First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
memorial may have been made by Morris & Co.
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
East of St. Kenelm's church is a mediaeval barn that was built for Winchcombe Abbey
Winchcombe Abbey
Winchcombe Abbey is a now-vanished Benedictine abbey in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, this abbey was once the capital of Mercia, an Anglo Saxon kingdom at the time of the Heptarchy in England. The Abbey was founded c. 798 for three hundred Benedictine monks, by King Offa of Mercia or King Kenulf. In...
, a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
that owned 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...
of Enstone. The barn has a cruck
Cruck
A cruck or crook frame is a curved timber, one of a pair, which supports the roof of a building, used particularly in England. This type of timber framing consists of long, generally bent, timber beams that lean inwards and form the ridge of the roof. These posts are then generally secured by a...
roof and a date stone fom 1382 but its manner of construction suggests it is a late 15th century building. It may therefore have been rebuilt at that time, retaining the date stone from an earlier structure.
In 1657 an attempt to merge the Benefices of Enstone and Heythrop
Heythrop
Heythrop is a village and civil parish just over east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Dunthrop.Heythrop had a Norman parish church of Saint Nicholas, but the nave has been demolished and only the chancel has been preserved as a mortuary chapel...
was abandoned in the face of local opposition. They were finally merged in 1964. In 2001 the Benefice of Enstone and Heythrop merged with that of Ascott-under-Wychwood
Ascott-under-Wychwood
Ascott-under-Wychwood is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.-History:The village is one of several named after the historic forest of Wychwood; the others being Shipton-under-Wychwood and Milton-under-Wychwood.Ascot d'Oilly Castle was...
, Chadlington
Chadlington
Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. The village comprises five "ends" - almost individual hamlets in their own right - called Greenend, Brookend, Westend, Millend, and Eastend....
, and Spelsbury
Spelsbury
Spelsbury is a village and civil parish about north of Charlbury and about southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Spelsbury stands on a narrow hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwood Forest to the north.-History:The toponym is...
to form the Chase Benefice.
Economic history
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 Chipping Norton and the other between Enstone and 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...
. Both were once turnpikes
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
, the 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 latter having been passed in 1797. Since the 1920s the Oxford - Chipping Norton road has been classified as part of the A44
A44 road
The A44 is a major road in the United Kingdom that runs from Oxford in southern England to Aberystwyth in west Wales.-History:The original route of the A44 was Chipping Norton to Aberystwyth. No changes were made to the route of the A44 in the early years...
and the Enstone - Bicester Road has been the B4030.
South of Enstone Airfield is a disused quarry. It is now the Whiteways Technical Centre, where the Lotus Renault GP motor racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
team is based.
RAF Enstone
RAFRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Enstone, northeast of Church Enstone, was a Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
Operational Training Unit in 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...
. It was decommissioned in 1947 and is now the civilian Enstone Airfield
Enstone Airfield
Enstone Airfield is a small civilian airfield close to Enstone in Oxfordshire, which is used for microlights, light aircraft and motor gliders. The ICAO designator is EGTN....
. The area of the former RAF buildings has been redeveloped as an industrial estate, and the northeastern perimeter of the airfield has been redeveloped as a poultry farm.
Amenities
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: the Crown at Church Enstone and the Harrow at Neat Enstone.
The village also has a County Council primary school. There is also a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
, an art gallery and a retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
. Enstone has a Women's Institute.
Enstone Sports Sunday Football Club plays in Cherwell Trophies Sunday Morning League Division Two.