Milton, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Milton is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Didcot
and a similar distance south of Abingdon
.
was Middeltune. From the 13th to the 15th century it evolved as Middelton and Midelton, and from the 15th century to the 17th century it was Mylton.
of land at Milton to his thegn
Alfwin, who in turn gave the estate to the Benedictine
Abingdon Abbey
. In the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in the 1530s the abbey surrendered its lands to the Crown
. Milton was among a number of estates that Henry VIII
granted to Baron Wriothesley
in 1546. Wriothesley sold Milton that same year to Thomas Calton, a goldsmith of London, whose descendants retained it for the next two centuries. In 1709 Paul Calton married Catherine, daughter of Admiral John Benbow
. In 1764 Catherine, Martha and Mary Calton sold the estate to Isaac Barrett, in whose family the property remains.
Milton House is a yellow and red brick manor house
built for the Calton family in the 17th century. The actual date is unknown: in 1696 it was described as "newly built" but Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
believed that it could not be much later than the 1660s. The original building is of five bays
and three storeys and may have been designed by Inigo Jones
. In 1796 short two-storey wings designed by Stephen Wright were added to the house for Bryant Barrett. The house, gardens and park are open to the public between 2 pm and 5 pm on certain dates between Easter Sunday and 31 August each year.
There was also a dower house
, where Admiral Benbow lived in the 1690s. Peter the Great
is said to have stayed at Milton House around this time, probably in order to consult Benbow on shipbuilding. No trace of the dower house remains.
is dedicated Saint Blaise
as he is the patron saint of the wool industry, which was a major part of Milton's mediaeval economy. The church seems to have been built in the 14th century but only the porch, the lower part of the bell tower
and part of the nave
including the west window survive from this time. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 18th century and the nave, chancel
and four-bay
north aisle were rebuilt by the Gothic Revival architect
Henry Woodyer in 1849-51. Under the chancel arch is the Barrett family vault, in which the Roman Catholic bishop Richard Challoner
(1691–1781) was buried until 1946 when his remains were translated to Westminster Cathedral
.
The tower has a ring
of eight bells, all cast by Whitechapel Bell Foundry
in 2001. Previously there was a ring of six, four of which were cast in 1682. At least three of the 1682 bells were cast by Richard Keene, who had foundries at Woodstock, Oxfordshire
and Royston, Hertfordshire
. Another of the bells had been cast in 1787 and the tenor was cast by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1906. When the new bells were hung in 2001, five of the old bells were sold to St. Michael and All Angels parish church, Hackthorn
, Lincolnshire
. One of Richard Keene's 1682 bells has been retained at St. Blaise but is not used.
chapel. Milton Methodist church now has a modern brick building and is a member of the Wantage and Abingdon Methodist Circuit
.
s in the parish are recorded in the Domesday Book
of 1086 and again in a record from 1401. There is still a Milton Mill on Ginge Brook.
In about 1770 Thomas Bowles of Abingdon inclosed land on Milton Hill about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the village as a park and had Milton Hill House built there. His son Thomas (died 1837) enlarged both the park and the house. The library was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott
for John Samuel Bowles. It remained the Bowles family seat until 1905 when it was sold by Col. Thomas John Bowles. It is now a DeVere hotel.
Milton Church of England
primary school was founded in 1796.
An open field system
of farming prevailed in the parish until 1808-09, when Parliament passed an Inclosure Act for Milton.
In 1841 the Great Western Main Line
was built through the parish about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) south of the village. In 1955 a British Rail
ways excursion train was derailed at Milton
, killing 11 people and injuring 163.
During the Second World War
the British Army
had a large depot on land between Milton village and the railway line. The site is now Milton Park
business park
.
In the 1970s a new dual carriageway
was built through the parish as part of the realignment and enlargement of the A34 road. Milton Interchange was built just south of the railway line as a junction between the A34 and the A4130.
, the Admiral Benbow, controlled by Greene King Brewery
.
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
and a similar distance south of Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
.
Toponym
From the 10th to the 13th century the village'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...
was Middeltune. From the 13th to the 15th century it evolved as Middelton and Midelton, and from the 15th century to the 17th century it was Mylton.
Manor
In 956 King Eadwig granted 15 hidesHide (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...
of land at Milton to his thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
Alfwin, who in turn gave the estate to the Benedictine
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
. In 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...
in the 1530s the abbey surrendered its lands 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...
. Milton was among a number of estates that Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
granted to Baron Wriothesley
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , known as The Lord Wriothesley between 1544 and 1547, was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton....
in 1546. Wriothesley sold Milton that same year to Thomas Calton, a goldsmith of London, whose descendants retained it for the next two centuries. In 1709 Paul Calton married Catherine, daughter of Admiral John Benbow
John Benbow
John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.Benbow...
. In 1764 Catherine, Martha and Mary Calton sold the estate to Isaac Barrett, in whose family the property remains.
Milton House is a yellow and red brick 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...
built for the Calton family in the 17th century. The actual date is unknown: in 1696 it was described as "newly built" but Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
believed that it could not be much later than the 1660s. The original building is of five 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:...
and three storeys and may have been designed by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
. In 1796 short two-storey wings designed by Stephen Wright were added to the house for Bryant Barrett. The house, gardens and park are open to the public between 2 pm and 5 pm on certain dates between Easter Sunday and 31 August each year.
There was also a dower house
Dower house
On an estate, a dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the estate-owner. The widow, often known as the "dowager" usually moves into the dower house from the larger family house on the death of her husband if the heir is married, and upon his marriage if he...
, where Admiral Benbow lived in the 1690s. Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
is said to have stayed at Milton House around this time, probably in order to consult Benbow on shipbuilding. No trace of the dower house remains.
Church of England
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:...
is dedicated Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea . According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded...
as he is the patron saint of the wool industry, which was a major part of Milton's mediaeval economy. The church seems to have been built in the 14th century but only the porch, the lower part of 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...
and part 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...
including the west window survive from this time. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt in the 18th century and the nave, 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...
and four-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:...
north aisle were rebuilt by the Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
Henry Woodyer in 1849-51. Under the chancel arch is the Barrett family vault, in which the Roman Catholic bishop Richard Challoner
Richard Challoner
Richard Challoner was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. He is perhaps most famous for his revision of the Douay Rheims translation of the Bible.-Early life:Challoner was born in the Protestant town of Lewes,...
(1691–1781) was buried until 1946 when his remains were translated to Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
.
The tower 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 eight bells, all cast by Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
in 2001. Previously there was a ring of six, four of which were cast in 1682. At least three of the 1682 bells were cast by Richard Keene, who had foundries at Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Woodstock is a small town northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. It is the location of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874 and is buried in the nearby village of Bladon....
and Royston, Hertfordshire
Royston, Hertfordshire
Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the towns western boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude of towns such as Milton Keynes and...
. Another of the bells had been cast in 1787 and the tenor was cast by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1906. When the new bells were hung in 2001, five of the old bells were sold to St. Michael and All Angels parish church, Hackthorn
Hackthorn
Hackthorn is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 180. It is situated 7½ miles north of Lincoln just east of the A15....
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. One of Richard Keene's 1682 bells has been retained at St. Blaise but is not used.
Methodist
By 1924 Milton had a corrugated iron nonconformistNonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
chapel. Milton Methodist church now has a modern brick building and is a member of the Wantage and Abingdon 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...
.
Economic and social history
Two watermillWatermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s in the parish are 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...
of 1086 and again in a record from 1401. There is still a Milton Mill on Ginge Brook.
In about 1770 Thomas Bowles of Abingdon inclosed land on Milton Hill about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the village as a park and had Milton Hill House built there. His son Thomas (died 1837) enlarged both the park and the house. The library was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
for John Samuel Bowles. It remained the Bowles family seat until 1905 when it was sold by Col. Thomas John Bowles. It is now a DeVere hotel.
Milton 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 was founded in 1796.
An open field system
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
of farming prevailed in the parish until 1808-09, when Parliament passed an Inclosure Act for Milton.
In 1841 the Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
was built through the parish about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) south of the village. In 1955 a 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 excursion train was derailed at Milton
Milton rail crash
In the Milton rail crash a passenger train took a crossover too fast and derailed. 11 were killed, and 157 were injured.- Overview :The crash occurred at about 13:15 on Sunday 20 November 1955, at Milton, between and on the line from on the Western Region of British Railways...
, killing 11 people and injuring 163.
During 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...
the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
had a large depot on land between Milton village and the railway line. The site is now Milton Park
Milton Park
Milton Park is a mixed use business park operated by MEPC plc. It is just south of the village of Milton, Oxfordshire, about west of Didcot. It is on the site of a former Ministry of Defence depot between the A34 and Didcot Power Station. Although closer to Didcot, it lies within the Abingdon...
business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
.
In the 1970s a new dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
was built through the parish as part of the realignment and enlargement of the A34 road. Milton Interchange was built just south of the railway line as a junction between the A34 and the A4130.
Amenities
Milton has one public housePublic 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...
, the Admiral Benbow, controlled by Greene King Brewery
Greene King Brewery
Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent...
.