Murcott is a village between the River Ray

River Ray

The River Ray is a river in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England. It rises at Quainton Hill and flows west through a flat countryside for around 25 km or 15 miles. It passes the village of Ambrosden and then flows through Otmoor...

 and Otmoor

Otmoor

Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is about above sea level, and has an area of approximately ....

 in the civil parish of Fencott and Murcott

Fencott and Murcott

Fencott and Murcott is a civil parish about south of Bicester in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England.The parish is bounded on the north and west by the River Ray and has an area of about . It includes the villages of Fencott and Murcott and has a population of about 250 residents. There...

, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Bicester

Bicester

Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...

 in Oxfordshire, England.

History

In 1542 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...

 granted almost all of the land at Murcott to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

. They retained it until the end of the 19th century, when it passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners

Ecclesiastical Commissioners

Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title is Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Church of England, and they made extensive changes in how...

.

Murcott Mission Room was built in 1895 to a plain Early English design by local Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 architect A. Mardon Mowbray

Alfred Mardon Mowbray

-Career:Mowbray was articled to Charles Buckeridge 1865–70 and assistant to architects including Joseph Clarke and J.W. Hugall 1870–72. He practiced in Oxford 1872–77, then in Eastbourne until after 1880. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1881 but lapsed in 1896....

. The Mission Room is a Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 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,...

, part of the Benefice of the Ray Valley.

The Nut Tree Inn public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 is a mid-18th century 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...

 building. It is a gastropub

Gastropub

Gastropub or Gastrolounge refers to a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food.The term gastropub, a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, originated in England in the late 20th century. English pubs were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. If...

 and in 2009 was awarded a Michelin Star. Murcott used to have a second pub, the Marlake House, but this had closed by 1939.