Horspath
Encyclopedia
Horspath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire
about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of the centre of Oxford
, England
.
that linked Dorchester on Thames and Alchester Roman Town. In the Romano-British period there were pottery kilns producing Oxfordshire red/brown-slipware at Horspath Open Brasenose. Production of red slipware
had begun by about AD 240 and continued until end of 4th century. Production at the Horspath kiln was from the mid 3rd century until the 4th century. A wide range of red-slipped tables wares, often decorated with rouletting, stamps or white slip, was produced in the Oxfordshire potteries and widely distributed across Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. A Romano-British
pottery mould has been found at Horspath and Roman pottery
has been found on the allotments
and on the common to the north of the village.
there were originally two distinct hamlets
: Upper or Old Horspath and Nether, Lower or Church Horspath. The old packhorse
road joining the London Road through the neighbouring village of Wheatley
gave the village the Old English name of "Horsepadan", which became "Horsepath." Finally, in 1912 the Parish Council changed the village's name to the unique form "Horspath."
Horspath parish was once part of the medieval Royal Forest
of Shotover, with dense woodland cover extending from Islip
to Cuddesdon
until "disafforestation" in 1660.
The Domesday Book
of 1086 records that the Norman
baron Roger d'Ivry
, who had numerous estates in Oxfordshire, held an estate of five and a half hides
at Horspath. This, along with many other d'Ivry estates, became part of the Honour
of St Valery
, and then passed to the Honour of Wallingford
and from 1540 the Honour of Ewelme
.
Three Oxford University
colleges, Corpus Christi
, Magdalen and Brasenose have owned land and property in the parish. A connection with Queen's College
comes from the 15th century when student John Copcot, walking in Shotover Forest reading his Aristotle
, was attacked by a wild boar. He thrust the volume down the animal's throat and 'the boar expired'. The college ceremony of carrying in the Boar's Head at Christmas resulted from this, as did the stained glass
window in St Giles church, presented in 1740 by the President of Magdalen to commemorate the Copcot Legend.
The oldest part of Horspath manor house was built for William Bedyll shortly before 1513. The southern front is late Elizabethan
and includes a staircase and four fireplaces built in about 1600. The eastern part of the house was designed by the architect John Malcolm and added in 1885.
A ghost, "The Grey Lady", is reputed to wander the landings and garden. Killed by her husband in a quarrel, her body was placed in a priest hole
. Several sightings have been reported and in December 1878 a first-class shot claimed he had fired three times at the figure, and found two bullets embedded in the wall.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson described Horspath thus:
of Saint Giles
seems to have been built late in the 12th century. The Early English Gothic south aisle, including the south door and three and a half bay
south arcade
date from this period. From this time the east wall of the chancel had a trio of three stepped lancet window
s. The early Decorated Gothic south transept
was added late in the 13th or early in the 14th century as a chantry
chapel. The south porch was added late in the 14th century.
Around 1400 the present bell tower
and tower arch were built. The tower arch features two unusual almost life-size sculptures of human figures: one playing the bagpipes and the other showing an expression of amazement. Also in the 15th century the pitch of the nave roof was greatly reduced in typical Perpendicular Gothic style. Late in the 15th century, Perpendicular Gothic windows were inserted in both sides of the chancel and the north wall of the nave
. The Perpendicular Gothic piscina
e in the chancel and south transept are also 15th century.
In the 18th century Magdalen College, Oxford
and the Earl of Abingdon
contributed to the building of a west gallery
in the nave. By 1840 the east wall of the chancel was out of alignment so the chancel was demolished and rebuilt to designs by the architect
H.J. Underwood
, who retained the Perpendicular Gothic side windows with their mediaeval stained glass
but dispensed with the mediaeval roof and replaced the Early English east windows with a neo-Perpendicular one. A contemporary condemned this work as "wanton destruction". By 1849 the nave was dilapidated so in 1852 the clerestorey and west gallery were removed, the north wall was rebuilt and the north transept was added. Once again Underwood was the architect. The work cost £800, of which Baker Morrell of the local Morrell brewing family and Magdalen College each paid £200.
By 1554 St. Giles' had three bells and by the 18th century it had five. It now has a ring
of six bells plus a Sanctus bell. Of the current ring, the oldest were cast by bellfounders from Reading
: one by Joseph Carter in 1602 and the tenor by William Yare in 1611. Two more were cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester
in 1718. Another was cast by W. & J. Taylor, who from 1821 to 1854 had a bell-foundry in Oxford. The youngest of the current bells is the treble, which was cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel in 1866. The Sanctus bell was cast by James Wells of Aldbourne in 1811.
Saint Giles' has an Elizabethan
silver chalice
made in about 1569, a carved late Jacobean
pulpit
, a pre-1740 faceless blacksmith clock and a number of memorial plaques. One of these, to James Salisbury of Bullingdon Green (who died in 1770), is elaborately decorated. Another is to the five children of Thomas and Esther Herbert, who died from a recurrence of the bubonic plague
between 1686 and 1688. Esther, whose family founded New College
, also died in 1688 aged 33. A ceramic statuette of Saint Giles made by a local potter in 1988 is in the south chapel
.
In the 19th century a Methodist
congregation developed in the village. It met in people's homes until 1871 when the current brick-built chapel just west of the village green the was completed and opened. It is now a member of The Oxford Methodist Circuit
of the Methodist Church of Great Britain
.
in 1642 the Royalists
disarmed the county's trained bands here. In 1644 Sir Arthur Aston, the Royalist Governor of Oxford, was thrown from his horse and injured here when "kerveting on horseback . . . before certain ladies". Aston's successor Sir Henry Gage
reviewed Royalist troops here in the presence of Charles I
. As the war turned against the Crown, Parliamentary
troops assembled here in 1644 under the Earl of Essex
and again in 1645.
Buildings in Horspath reflect the underlying geology
, with many older houses built from rubblestone
of the distinctive local Corallian limestone
. Red tiles or thatch are common as roofing materials. Horspath has 15 listed buildings including farm outbuildings and a cowhouse, the manor house
, the parish church
, and two thatched
cottages, of which there were once 17, but fire has destroyed most. In 1936 the Queen's Head public house caught fire and sparks from the thatch destroyed two cottages opposite. The pub was restored with a tiled roof, as was Shepherd's Cottage, this thatch being burnt in the mid 1970s. The Chequers Inn, although dated 1624, was built in the 19th century.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries laundresses stretched their lines across the village green and market gardeners tended their vegetables for Pembroke College, Oxford
. Farmers also reared pigs for the college tables. The 1871 census recorded a population of 373, including 93 employed on the land, 14 craftsmen, 30 in other trades, a curate
and two publican
s. There were 12 farmers in 1841 and only two in 1990, but the village still has two publicans.
Early in the 20th century there was much change with tarmac
roads, housing developments and mobile homes replacing farmland and manor grounds, the loss of the elm
s and the village pond as well as the railway.
In 1912 William Morris
moved his car manufacturing from Oxford to larger premises in Cowley. Surveys in 1938 and 1946 recorded more than 80 Horspath villagers working at Morris Motors
. Horspath's population now includes people from many occupations, including employees of what is now the BMW MINI
factory.
was built and opened through the parish, including the 524 yards (479.1 m) long Horspath Tunnel between Horspath village and the hamlet of Littleworth
. It is sometimes called Wheatley Tunnel, but it is in fact entirely within Horspath parish.
The Great Western Railway
took over the Wycombe Railway in 1867 and opened in 1908. The halt was closed in 1915 but reopened in 1933. In 1963 British Rail
ways withdrew passenger services between and and closed the halt.
Horspath Tunnel is now owned by Oxfordshire County Council
and is a hibernaculum
for several species of bat. In 1982 Horspath Parish Council bought the disused railway cutting southwest of the tunnel, enabling community volunteers to modify it to increase its biodiversity as Horspath Parish Council Wildlife Conservation Area.
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....
about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of the centre of 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...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Archaeology
The parish's western boundary largely follows the course of a Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
that linked Dorchester on Thames and Alchester Roman Town. In the Romano-British period there were pottery kilns producing Oxfordshire red/brown-slipware at Horspath Open Brasenose. Production of red slipware
Slipware
Slipware is a type of pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip was placed onto the leather-hard clay body surface by dipping, painting or splashing...
had begun by about AD 240 and continued until end of 4th century. Production at the Horspath kiln was from the mid 3rd century until the 4th century. A wide range of red-slipped tables wares, often decorated with rouletting, stamps or white slip, was produced in the Oxfordshire potteries and widely distributed across Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. A Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
pottery mould has been found at Horspath and Roman pottery
Ancient Roman pottery
Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond...
has been found on the allotments
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
and on the common to the north of the village.
Manor
In the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
there were originally two distinct hamlets
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...
: Upper or Old Horspath and Nether, Lower or Church Horspath. The old packhorse
Packhorse
.A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid such as a horse, mule, donkey or pony used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. ...
road joining the London Road through the neighbouring village of Wheatley
Wheatley, Oxfordshire
Wheatley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford.-Archaeology:There was a Roman villa on Castle Hill, about southeast of the parish church. It was excavated in 1845, when Roman coins dating from AD 260 to 378 and fragments of Roman pottery and Roman tiles were...
gave the village the Old English name of "Horsepadan", which became "Horsepath." Finally, in 1912 the Parish Council changed the village's name to the unique form "Horspath."
Horspath parish was once part of the medieval Royal Forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of Shotover, with dense woodland cover extending from Islip
Islip, Oxfordshire
Islip is a village and civil parish on the River Ray, just above its confluence with the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England. It is about east of Kidlington and about north of Oxford. This village in Oxfordshire is not related to Islip, New York...
to Cuddesdon
Cuddesdon
Cuddesdon is an east Oxfordshire village about east of Oxford. It is notable as the location of Ripon College Cuddesdon....
until "disafforestation" in 1660.
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 the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
baron 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...
, who had numerous estates in Oxfordshire, held an estate of five and a half 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 Horspath. This, along with many other d'Ivry estates, 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...
, and then passed to the Honour of Wallingford
Honour of Wallingford
The Honour of Wallingford was a medieval English honour located circa 1066 to 1540 in present-day Oxfordshire.The Honour of Wallingford was established after the Norman conquest of England, which began in 1066. The Honour initially encompassed Wallingford and Harpsden and thereafter gained...
and from 1540 the Honour of Ewelme
Ewelme
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...
.
Three Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
colleges, Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, Magdalen and Brasenose have owned land and property in the parish. A connection with Queen's College
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
comes from the 15th century when student John Copcot, walking in Shotover Forest reading his Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, was attacked by a wild boar. He thrust the volume down the animal's throat and 'the boar expired'. The college ceremony of carrying in the Boar's Head at Christmas resulted from this, as did the 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 in St Giles church, presented in 1740 by the President of Magdalen to commemorate the Copcot Legend.
The oldest part of Horspath manor house was built for William Bedyll shortly before 1513. The southern front is late 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...
and includes a staircase and four fireplaces built in about 1600. The eastern part of the house was designed by the architect John Malcolm and added in 1885.
A ghost, "The Grey Lady", is reputed to wander the landings and garden. Killed by her husband in a quarrel, her body was placed in a priest hole
Priest hole
"Priest hole" is the term given to hiding places for priests built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558....
. Several sightings have been reported and in December 1878 a first-class shot claimed he had fired three times at the figure, and found two bullets embedded in the wall.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson described Horspath thus:
- "HORSEPATH, a village and a parish in HeadingtonHeadingtonHeadington is a suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames Valley below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.-History:...
district, OxfordOxfordThe 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...
. The village stands under a hill, 2 miles W by S of Wheatley railway stationWheatley railway stationWheatley railway station was on the Wycombe Railway and served the village of Wheatley in Oxfordshire.It was opened in 1864 as part of an extension from Thame to Oxford. The railway crossed the steep road of Ladder Hill by a bridge...
, and 4 ESE of Oxford. The parish includes also the hamlet of Littleworth. Post town, Wheatley, under Oxford. Acres, 1,164. Real property, £1,840. Pop., 334. Houses, 71. The manor belongs to the Earl of MacclesfieldEarl of MacclesfieldEarl of Macclesfield is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the soldier and politician Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard...
. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of OxfordDiocese of Oxford-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
. Value, £91. Patron, Magdalene College, Oxford. The church is ancient; consists of naveNaveIn 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 chancelChancelIn church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with a tower; and has, in its tower wall, two rude figures, said to be those of its founders."
Church and chapel
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...
seems to have been built late in the 12th century. The Early English Gothic south aisle, including the south door and three and a half bay
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:...
south 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....
date from this period. From this time the east wall of the chancel had a trio of three stepped lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s. The early Decorated Gothic 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 added late in the 13th or early in the 14th century as 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...
chapel. The south porch was added late in the 14th century.
Around 1400 the present 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...
and tower arch were built. The tower arch features two unusual almost life-size sculptures of human figures: one playing the bagpipes and the other showing an expression of amazement. Also in the 15th century the pitch of the nave roof was greatly reduced in typical Perpendicular Gothic style. Late in the 15th century, Perpendicular Gothic windows were inserted in both sides of the chancel and the north wall of 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...
. The Perpendicular Gothic piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
e in the chancel and south transept are also 15th century.
In the 18th century Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and the Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Baroness Norreys de Rycote, and the younger half-brother of...
contributed to the building of a west gallery
West gallery music
West Gallery Music, also known as "Georgian psalmody" refers to the sacred music sung and played in English parish churches, as well as nonconformist chapels, from 1700 to around 1850...
in the nave. By 1840 the east wall of the chancel was out of alignment so the chancel was demolished and rebuilt to designs by the architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
H.J. Underwood
Henry Jones Underwood
Henry Jones Underwood was an English architect who spent most of his career in Oxford. He was the brother of the architects Charles Underwood and George Allen Underwood ....
, who retained the Perpendicular Gothic side windows with their mediaeval 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...
but dispensed with the mediaeval roof and replaced the Early English east windows with a neo-Perpendicular one. A contemporary condemned this work as "wanton destruction". By 1849 the nave was dilapidated so in 1852 the clerestorey and west gallery were removed, the north wall was rebuilt and the north transept was added. Once again Underwood was the architect. The work cost £800, of which Baker Morrell of the local Morrell brewing family and Magdalen College each paid £200.
By 1554 St. Giles' had three bells and by the 18th century it had five. It now has a ring
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 six bells plus a Sanctus bell. Of the current ring, the oldest were cast by bellfounders from Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
: one by Joseph Carter in 1602 and the tenor by William Yare in 1611. Two more were cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 produced over 5,000 bells. The business was founded by Abraham Rudhall and the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be...
in 1718. Another was cast by W. & J. Taylor, who from 1821 to 1854 had a bell-foundry in Oxford. The youngest of the current bells is the treble, which was cast by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel in 1866. The Sanctus bell was cast by James Wells of Aldbourne in 1811.
Saint Giles' has an 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...
silver chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
made in about 1569, a carved late Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, a pre-1740 faceless blacksmith clock and a number of memorial plaques. One of these, to James Salisbury of Bullingdon Green (who died in 1770), is elaborately decorated. Another is to the five children of Thomas and Esther Herbert, who died from a recurrence of the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
between 1686 and 1688. Esther, whose family founded New College
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, also died in 1688 aged 33. A ceramic statuette of Saint Giles made by a local potter in 1988 is in the south 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,...
.
In the 19th century a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
congregation developed in the village. It met in people's homes until 1871 when the current brick-built chapel just west of the village green the was completed and opened. It is now a member of The Oxford Methodist Circuit
Methodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
of the Methodist Church of Great Britain
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...
.
Civil War
In the western part of the parish, between Horspath village and the Roman road, is Bullingdon Green. Some weeks after the Battle of EdgehillBattle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....
in 1642 the Royalists
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
disarmed the county's trained bands here. In 1644 Sir Arthur Aston, the Royalist Governor of Oxford, was thrown from his horse and injured here when "kerveting on horseback . . . before certain ladies". Aston's successor Sir Henry Gage
Henry Gage (soldier)
Sir Henry Gage was an English Royalist officer.-Life:He was born at Haling, in Surrey, the son of John Gage and Margaret Copley...
reviewed Royalist troops here in the presence of Charles I
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...
. As the war turned against the Crown, Parliamentary
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...
troops assembled here in 1644 under the Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the seventeenth century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads...
and again in 1645.
Economic and social history
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, with many older houses built from rubblestone
Rubble masonry
Rubble masonry is rough, unhewn building stone set in mortar, but not laid in regular courses. It may appear as the outer surface of a wall or may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or cut stone....
of the distinctive local Corallian limestone
Corallian Limestone
Corallian Limestone is a coralliferous sedimentary rock, laid down in Jurassic times. It is a hard variety of "coral rag". Building stones from this geological structure tend to be irregular in shape. It is often found close to seams of Portland Limestone...
. Red tiles or thatch are common as roofing materials. Horspath has 15 listed buildings including farm outbuildings and a cowhouse, 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...
, the 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....
, and two thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
cottages, of which there were once 17, but fire has destroyed most. In 1936 the Queen's Head public house caught fire and sparks from the thatch destroyed two cottages opposite. The pub was restored with a tiled roof, as was Shepherd's Cottage, this thatch being burnt in the mid 1970s. The Chequers Inn, although dated 1624, was built in the 19th century.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries laundresses stretched their lines across the village green and market gardeners tended their vegetables for Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
. Farmers also reared pigs for the college tables. The 1871 census recorded a population of 373, including 93 employed on the land, 14 craftsmen, 30 in other trades, a 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...
and two publican
Publican
In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...
s. There were 12 farmers in 1841 and only two in 1990, but the village still has two publicans.
Early in the 20th century there was much change with tarmac
Tarmac
Tarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
roads, housing developments and mobile homes replacing farmland and manor grounds, the loss of the elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
s and the village pond as well as the railway.
In 1912 William Morris
William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield
William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield GBE, CH , known as Sir William Morris, Bt, between 1929 and 1934 and as The Lord Nuffield between 1934 and 1938, was a British motor manufacturer and philanthropist...
moved his car manufacturing from Oxford to larger premises in Cowley. Surveys in 1938 and 1946 recorded more than 80 Horspath villagers working at Morris Motors
Morris Motor Company
The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...
. Horspath's population now includes people from many occupations, including employees of what is now the BMW MINI
MINI (BMW)
Mini is a British automotive marque owned by BMW which specialises in small cars.Mini originated as a specific vehicle, a small car originally known as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and developed into a brand encompassing a range of...
factory.
Wycombe Railway
In 1864 the Wycombe RailwayWycombe Railway
The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to .-History:The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament passed in 1846...
was built and opened through the parish, including the 524 yards (479.1 m) long Horspath Tunnel between Horspath village and the hamlet of Littleworth
Littleworth, South Oxfordshire
Littleworth is a hamlet in South Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford, England.-History:There were two windmills on the hill about south of the hamlet. One was a post mill that burnt down in 1875. The other, Littleworth Mill, is an octagonal tower mill that dates from before 1671...
. It is sometimes called Wheatley Tunnel, but it is in fact entirely within Horspath parish.
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 Wycombe Railway in 1867 and opened in 1908. The halt was closed in 1915 but reopened in 1933. In 1963 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 withdrew passenger services between and and closed the halt.
Horspath Tunnel is now owned by Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...
and is a hibernaculum
Hibernaculum (zoology)
Hibernaculum plural form: hibernacula is a word used in zoology to refer to a place of abode in which a creature seeks refuge, such as a bear using a cave to overwinter. Insects may hibernate to survive the winter. The word can be used to describe a variety of shelters used by various kinds of...
for several species of bat. In 1982 Horspath Parish Council bought the disused railway cutting southwest of the tunnel, enabling community volunteers to modify it to increase its biodiversity as Horspath Parish Council Wildlife Conservation Area.