Hampton Gay
Encyclopedia
Hampton Gay is a village in the Cherwell
valley about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Kidlington
, Oxfordshire
.
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 Crown
. D'Ivry's holding became part of the honour
of St. Valery
, which in the 13th century was owned by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
. Under his successor Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
towards the end of the 13th century the d'Ivry holding was merged with the Duchy of Cornwall
. The royal estate at Hampton Gay became part of the honour of Gloucester
and thereby followed the same descent as the manor of Finmere.
The Domesday Book
of 1086 records that one Rainald was the tenant of both the d'Ivry and the royal estate. The de Gay family were tenants of both estates by about 1137 and remained so until 1222. Hampton Gay's toponym
combines their surname with the Old English for a village or farm.
In about 1170 Reginald de Gay gave a virgate
of land (about 30 acres (12.1 ha)) to the house of the Knights Templar
at Cowley, Oxfordshire. In about 1311 the Templars were suppressed and their holding at Hampton Gay was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller
of Saint John of Jerusalem. In about 1218 Robert de Gay gave the tenancy of half a hide of the St. Valery estate to the Benedictine convent at Godstow
. Between 1195 and 1205 the Augustinian
Abbey of Osney
bought the tenancy of two virgates at Hampton Gay from Robert de Gay, who in stages from 1210 to 1222 gave the remainder of his tenancy to the abbey.
The three religious orders retained their estates at Hampton Gay until 1539, when they were suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
and forefeited their lands to the Crown, which in 1542 sold Hampton Gay to Leonard Chamberlayne of Shirburn
. In 1544 Chamberlayne sold the estate to John Barry of Eynsham
, whose family owned Hampton Gay until they got into financial difficulties and sold it in 1682. The new owner was Sir Richard Wenman, MP
who in 1686 became 4th Viscount Wenman
. Wenman died in 1690 and his widow sold Hampton Gay in 1691 to William Hindes of Priors Marston
in Warwickshire
. The Hindes family owned Hampton Gay until 1798 when Susannah, widow of Thomas Hindes, died without a male heir and left the manor to their daughter Anne and her husband. The manor changed hands again in 1809 and 1849, and in 1862 was bought by Wadham College, Oxford
. In 1928 the college sold Hampton Gay to Colonel S.L. Barry of Long Crendon
, Buckinghamshire
, a descendant of the Barry family who had owned the manor in the 16th and 17th centuries. On his death in 1943 Col. Barry left the estate to his daughter Jeanne and her husband, the Honourable James McDonnell.
The Barry family built the manor house
in the 16th century. It has an E-shaped plan with gable
d wings and a battlement
ed central porch. Its Elizabethan
form remained unaltered until the 19th century, including original Elizabethan panelling in its principal rooms, but in 1809 it was reported to be in a neglected state. In the 1880's the house was divided into two tenements but in 1887 it was gutted by fire. It has never been restored and remains an ivy-clad ruin. Early in the 21st century English Heritage
placed the manor house ruins on its register of historic buildings at risk, listing its priority as "A" and its condition as "very bad".
records show that Hampton Gay had a parish church
by 1074. The Church of england parish church
of Saint Giles
had included features from at least as early as the 13th century, but in 1767-72 the Rev. Thomas Hindes, a member of the family that then owned the manor, had it completely rebuilt. In 1842 the antiquarian
J.H. Parker condemned St. Giles' Georgian architecture
as "a very bad specimen of the meeting-house style". In 1859-60 the curate
, Rev. F.C. Hingeston, altered the church to his own designs, replacing its round-headed Georgian windows with ones in an Early English Gothic style and having the south doorway re-cut in Norman
fashion. St. Giles contains a number of monuments, most of them to the Barry family. The most notable is a 17th century wall monument with kneeling effigies in memory of Vincent and Anne Barry and their daughter Lady Katherine Fenner.
St. Giles' parish is now part of the Church of England benefice of Akeman, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon
, Chesterton
, Kirtlington
, Middleton Stoney
, Wendlebury
and Weston-on-the-Green
.
mill until 1681, when Vincent Barry leased it to be a paper mill. In 1863-73 the paper mill was rebuilt with a gas works, steam engine and other machinery. In 1875 it was destroyed by fire but from 1876 it was restored to production. In 1880 it had both a water wheel powered by the river and a steam engine fed by a Cornish boiler, and could produce about a ton of paper per day. The tenants running the mill were J. and B. New, and when the manor house was divided they became tenants of one of its two portions. However, by 1887 the News had gone bankrupt and their stock in trade was sold to settle unpaid rent.
Hampton Gay's population was more numerous in mediaeval times than at present. However it declined, and in 1428 the village was exempted from taxation because it had fewer than 10 householders. John Barry, who bought the manor in 1544, had made his money from wool, and he or his heirs enclosed
land at Hampton Gay for sheep pasture. In 1596 Hampton Gay villagers joined those from Hampton Poyle who were plotting an agrarian revolt against the enclosures. The rebels planned to murder landowners including Vincent Barry and his daughter and then to march on London. A carpenter at Hampton Gay warned Barry, five ringleaders were arrested and taken to London for trial, and one was sentenced to be hanged and quartered
. However, the Government also recognised the cause of the rebels' grievance and determined that "order should be taken about inclosures... that the poor may be able to live". Parliament
duly passed an Act
(39 Eliz. 1 c. 2) to restore to arable use all lands that had been converted to pasture since the accession of Elizabeth I
in 1558.
Manor Farm house was built early in the 17th century. It has a gabled front of three bays
, original clustered chimney-stacks and a Stonesfield slate roof. A wing was added to the house in the 19th century.
The Oxford and Rugby Railway between and was built past Hampton Gay in 1848-1849. The nearest station provided was , more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south. British Rail
ways closed Kidlington station in 1964 but the railway remains open as part of the Cherwell Valley Line
.
Hampton Gay was a separate civil parish until 1932 when it was merged with the adjacent parish of Hampton Poyle
.
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...
valley about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
Manor
After 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...
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman Conquest, his invasion of England. He died in 1091.-Background:Robert was the son of Walter D'Oyly and elder brother to Nigel D'Oyly...
gave an estate of three hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
at Hampton Gay to his brother in arms Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry or d'Ivri was an 11th century nobleman from Ivry-la-Bataille in Normandy. He took part in William of Normandy's conquest of England in 1066 and founded the Abbey of Notre-Dame-d'Ivry in 1071...
, while a second estate of two hides at Hampton Gay belonged to 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...
. D'Ivry's holding became part of the honour
Honour (land)
In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.The typical honour had...
of St. Valery
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some west of Dieppe at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads...
, which in the 13th century was owned by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
. Under his successor Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund of Cornwall of Almain was the 2nd Earl of Cornwall of the 7th creation.-Early life:Edmund was born at Berkhamsted Castle on 26 December 1249, the second and only surviving son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall and his wife Sanchia of Provence, daughter of Ramon Berenguer, Count of Provence,...
towards the end of the 13th century the d'Ivry holding was merged with the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
. The royal estate at Hampton Gay became part of the honour of Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and thereby followed the same descent as the manor of Finmere.
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...
of 1086 records that one Rainald was the tenant of both the d'Ivry and the royal estate. The de Gay family were tenants of both estates by about 1137 and remained so until 1222. Hampton Gay's 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...
combines their surname with the Old English for a village or farm.
In about 1170 Reginald de Gay gave a 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...
of land (about 30 acres (12.1 ha)) to the house of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
at Cowley, Oxfordshire. In about 1311 the Templars were suppressed and their holding at Hampton Gay was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
of Saint John of Jerusalem. In about 1218 Robert de Gay gave the tenancy of half a hide of the St. Valery estate to the Benedictine convent at Godstow
Godstow
Godstow is a hamlet on the River Thames about northwest of the centre of Oxford. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, or Godstow Nunnery, are here.-The Abbey:...
. Between 1195 and 1205 the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Abbey of Osney
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an...
bought the tenancy of two virgates at Hampton Gay from Robert de Gay, who in stages from 1210 to 1222 gave the remainder of his tenancy to the abbey.
The three religious orders retained their estates at Hampton Gay until 1539, when they were suppressed during 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...
and forefeited their lands to the Crown, which in 1542 sold Hampton Gay to Leonard Chamberlayne of Shirburn
Shirburn
Shirburn is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The eastern part of the parish is in the Chiltern Hills.-Manor:Shirburn is a spring line settlement at the foot of the Chiltern escarpment...
. In 1544 Chamberlayne sold the estate to John Barry of Eynsham
Eynsham
Eynsham is a village and civil parish about east of Witney in Oxfordshire, England.-History:Eynsham grew up near the historically important ford of Swinford on the River Thames flood plain...
, whose family owned Hampton Gay until they got into financial difficulties and sold it in 1682. The new owner was Sir Richard Wenman, MP
Richard Wenman, 4th Viscount Wenman
Richard Wenman, 4th Viscount Wenman , known as Sir Richard Wenman, Bt, between 1680 and 1686, was an English landowner and politician....
who in 1686 became 4th Viscount Wenman
Viscount Wenman
Viscount Wenman, of Tuam in the County of Galway, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 30 July 1628 for Sir Richard Wenman, Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire in 1620 and 1625. He was made Baron Wenman, of Kilmaynham in the County of Meath, at the same time, also in the...
. Wenman died in 1690 and his widow sold Hampton Gay in 1691 to William Hindes of Priors Marston
Priors Marston
Priors Marston is a village in Warwickshire, England, southwest of Daventry. The Oxford Canal and Jurassic Way both run nearby. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the parish is 506, most of whom live 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...
. The Hindes family owned Hampton Gay until 1798 when Susannah, widow of Thomas Hindes, died without a male heir and left the manor to their daughter Anne and her husband. The manor changed hands again in 1809 and 1849, and in 1862 was bought by Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
. In 1928 the college sold Hampton Gay to Colonel S.L. Barry of Long Crendon
Long Crendon
Long Crendon is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Haddenham and north-west of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire.The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, a descendant of the Barry family who had owned the manor in the 16th and 17th centuries. On his death in 1943 Col. Barry left the estate to his daughter Jeanne and her husband, the Honourable James McDonnell.
The Barry family built the 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...
in the 16th century. It has an E-shaped plan with gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d wings and a battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
ed central porch. Its Elizabethan
Elizabethan architecture
Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historically, the period corresponds to the Cinquecento in Italy, the Early Renaissance in France, and the Plateresque style in Spain...
form remained unaltered until the 19th century, including original Elizabethan panelling in its principal rooms, but in 1809 it was reported to be in a neglected state. In the 1880's the house was divided into two tenements but in 1887 it was gutted by fire. It has never been restored and remains an ivy-clad ruin. Early in the 21st century 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...
placed the manor house ruins on its register of historic buildings at risk, listing its priority as "A" and its condition as "very bad".
Parish church
TitheTithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
records show that Hampton Gay had a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
by 1074. 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 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...
had included features from at least as early as the 13th century, but in 1767-72 the Rev. Thomas Hindes, a member of the family that then owned the manor, had it completely rebuilt. In 1842 the antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
J.H. Parker condemned St. Giles' Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
as "a very bad specimen of the meeting-house style". In 1859-60 the curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
, Rev. F.C. Hingeston, altered the church to his own designs, replacing its round-headed Georgian windows with ones in an Early English Gothic style and having the south doorway re-cut in 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...
fashion. St. Giles contains a number of monuments, most of them to the Barry family. The most notable is a 17th century wall monument with kneeling effigies in memory of Vincent and Anne Barry and their daughter Lady Katherine Fenner.
St. Giles' parish is now part of the Church of England 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...
, 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...
, Wendlebury
Wendlebury
Wendlebury is a village and civil parish about southwest of Bicester and about 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....
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...
.
Economic and social history
Hampton Gay had a water mill on he River Cherwell by 1219, when it became the property of Osney Abbey. It was a gristGrist
Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a grist mill. Its etymology derives from the verb grind....
mill until 1681, when Vincent Barry leased it to be a paper mill. In 1863-73 the paper mill was rebuilt with a gas works, steam engine and other machinery. In 1875 it was destroyed by fire but from 1876 it was restored to production. In 1880 it had both a water wheel powered by the river and a steam engine fed by a Cornish boiler, and could produce about a ton of paper per day. The tenants running the mill were J. and B. New, and when the manor house was divided they became tenants of one of its two portions. However, by 1887 the News had gone bankrupt and their stock in trade was sold to settle unpaid rent.
Hampton Gay's population was more numerous in mediaeval times than at present. However it declined, and in 1428 the village was exempted from taxation because it had fewer than 10 householders. John Barry, who bought the manor in 1544, had made his money from wool, and he or his heirs 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...
land at Hampton Gay for sheep pasture. In 1596 Hampton Gay villagers joined those from Hampton Poyle who were plotting an agrarian revolt against the enclosures. The rebels planned to murder landowners including Vincent Barry and his daughter and then to march on London. A carpenter at Hampton Gay warned Barry, five ringleaders were arrested and taken to London for trial, and one was sentenced to be hanged and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
. However, the Government also recognised the cause of the rebels' grievance and determined that "order should be taken about inclosures... that the poor may be able to live". Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
duly passed an Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
(39 Eliz. 1 c. 2) to restore to arable use all lands that had been converted to pasture since the accession of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in 1558.
Manor Farm house was built early in the 17th century. It has a gabled front of three bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
, original clustered chimney-stacks and a Stonesfield slate roof. A wing was added to the house in the 19th century.
The Oxford and Rugby Railway between and was built past Hampton Gay in 1848-1849. The nearest station provided was , more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south. 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 Kidlington station in 1964 but the railway remains open as part of the Cherwell Valley Line
Cherwell Valley Line
The Cherwell Valley Line is the railway line between Didcot and Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands...
.
Hampton Gay was a separate civil parish until 1932 when it was merged with the adjacent parish of Hampton Poyle
Hampton Poyle
Hampton Poyle is a village beside the River Cherwell, about northeast of Kidlington in Oxfordshire.-History:In the 13th century Hampton Poyle was granted to Walter de la Poyle. Its toponym combines his surname with the Old English for a village or farm....
.