North Leigh
Encyclopedia
North Leigh is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Witney
in Oxfordshire
. The parish includes the hamlet
of East End, and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote
.
, is an Iron Age
hill fort
.
The course of Akeman Street
Roman road
linking Cirencester
with London forms part of the northern boundary of the parish. Two Roman villa
s have been excavated in the parish. One is about 1 miles (1.6 km) northwest of the centre of the village and is not on display. The other, known as North Leigh Roman Villa
, is about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) north of East End. It is under the care of English Heritage
and is open to the public.
In 1928 the remains of eight Saxon
burials from the 7th century AD were found less than 1 miles (1.6 km) north of the centre of the village. The toponym
Leigh is also Saxon, derived from the Old English leah meaning a clearing. "North" distinguishes the village from South Leigh
, less than 3 miles (5 km) to the south.
of 1086 records that the Norman
nobleman Roger d'Ivry
held the manor
of North Leigh. D'Ivry was a brother in arms of Robert D'Oyly
who built Oxford Castle
. Some of d'Ivry's manors, including North Leigh, became part of the honour
of St. Valery
. In the 13th century the honour of St. Valery passed to the Earl of Cornwall, but when Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
died childless in 1300 it then passed to the Crown
.
Lieu-Dieu Abbey in the Somme
area of northern France was founded in 1191, and shortly thereafter it was given the tenancy of North Leigh manor. In 1247 Lieu-Dieu sold the tenancy to the Cistercian Netley Abbey
in Hampshire
. In 1536 the Abbey was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
and the tenancy of North Leigh passed to the Crown
.
In 1544 the Crown granted the manor to Sir Thomas Pope
, with whose heirs it remained until a later Thomas Pope, the 3rd Earl of Downe
sold it in 1660. From 1676 the manor belonged to the Perrott family, who had been linked with the Popes by marriage in the 16th century, and after whom Perrotts Hill Farm is named. Perrotts Hill farmhouse is 17th century or older, but was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1765 James Leigh-Perrott sold the manor of North Leigh to George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough
. At the time the manor had 1200 acres (485.6 ha) of land, but over the years the Blenheim Estate sold parts of it until by 1984 it retained only about 250 acres (101.2 ha).
Roger d'Ivry granted two thirds of the demesne
tithe
s of the manor to St. George's church in Oxford Castle. In the 12th century St. George's church and its tithes passed to the Augustinian
Osney Abbey
in Oxford. In 1279 the remaining third of the tithes and an area of land in the parish were made over to the Cistercian Hailes Abbey
in Gloucestershire
. Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
had founded Hailes Abbey in 1245 or 1246, and also owned North Leigh manor. From 1314 Hailes Abbey also leased Osney Abbey's tithes from North Leigh. In the Dissolution of the Monasteries the land and tithes of the abbeys were taken by the Crown.
In 1544 the Crown granted the former Hailes land to three London citizens, and in 1555 one of them then granted it to the Bridewell Hospital
in London. North Leigh parish was farmed under the open field system
until 1759, when an Act of Parliament
allowed their enclosure
. Bridewell Hospital received two farms, one of which is Bridewell Farm. The Bridewell farmhouse was built in 1761.
of the Church of England parish church
of Saint Mary
is late Saxon
, probably built in the first half of the 11th century. The building underwent a complicated series of alterations from the 12th to the 18th centuries, losing its Saxon nave to the west of the tower and gaining at various times a new nave
, chancel
, aisles and two chapels east of the tower. St. Mary's is particularly notable for its fan vault
ed early 15th century Perpendicular Gothic style Wilcote chantry
chapel and its early 18th century Perrott burial chapel, both of which are of unusually high quality for a village parish church.
The Gothic Revival architect
G.E. Street
restored St. Mary's in 1864. The tower has a ring
of six bells that Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
cast in 1875.
Shortly after 1726 the vicarage just south of the church was demolished a new one was built. In 1811 a vicar complained that it was too small, so somewhen thereafter it was extended at the back. In 1981 the Diocese of Oxford
decided the vicarage was too big and sold it.
congregation was meeting in North Leigh by 1659 and in 1669 was reported to attract 60 or more people to its meetings. In 1738 North Leigh still had two Quaker families but by 1768 only one elderly man and his daughter remained.
By 1770 villagers from North Leigh were attending Weslayan
meetings in the area. The Wesleyan congregation seems to have had a chapel in Chapel Lane by the 1790's, which was rebuilt in 1820. The chapel was rebuilt again in 1873 and is now North Leigh Methodist Church
.
Windmill Gospel Hall is a small independent church in Common Road that was built in the 20th century.
, Long Hanborough
and North Leigh parish that was the main link between Witney and Oxford
. Over the centuries its course changed and it was straightened, and in 1751 it was made into a turnpike
. It ceased to be a turnpike in 1869, and the modern course of the road is now classified the A4095.
North Leigh's first record of a public house
is from 1587, when Richard Breakspear was licenced as an ale-house keeper. In 1774 North Leigh three ale-houses: the Chequers, the Dun Cow and the King's Arms, but the Chequers and the Kings Arms had ceased trading by 1795. The Dun Cow was on the main road opposite the north gate of Eynsham Park. It too had ceased trading by the 1820's. By 1847 there were two new pubs: the Harcourt
Arms and the Parker Arms. The Parker Arms ceased trading about 1870. The Harcourt Arms used a house dating from 1783, and was turned back into a private house in 1984. North Leigh's next recorded pub was the Mason Arms, which had opened by 1871 and remains open today.
In 1642 Royalist
troops were billeted in the village after the English Civil War
Battle of Edgehill
and "plundered and pillaged" the neighbourhood. On 4 June 1644 Charles I
, while retreating from Oxford, spent the night at Perrotts Hill Farm before continuing westwards to Burford
.
In the centre of the village is North Leigh windmill
. It is a tower mill
built in 1833 by Joseph Shepherd, who was a baker as well as a miller. It was restored in 1881 and 1933, but during the Second World War
the cap was removed in 1940 to make an observation post. This led the interior of the building to fall into decay, and in the 1980's West Oxfordshire District Council tried to compel the owner to repair it. The mill still lacks sails, but it now has a new cap to make it weatherproof.
gave a site for a new school building into which to merge them. The school was built with a Parliamentary grant and organised as a National School
. The school often had more pupils than it was built for, and was enlarged in 1854, 1871 and 1885. It was reorganised as a junior school in 1928 and became a Church of England school
in 1959. The school moved to a new building on a different site in 1967, and the old school building and teacher's house were sold as private housing in 1974.
is an association football club founded in 1908. It plays in the Southern Football League
Division 1 South & West. North Leigh has a Women's Institute.
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. The parish includes the hamlet
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...
of East End, and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote
Wilcote
Wilcote is a hamlet about north of Witney in Oxfordshire, England. Wilcote was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was absorbed into that of North Leigh.-Manor:...
.
Early history
Green Wood fort, about 1 miles (1.6 km) south of the village in the grounds of Eynsham HallEynsham Hall
Eynsham Hall is a Grade II listed mansion near North Leigh in Oxfordshire.Built in 1780 as a Georgian house, it was renovated to a Jacobean style mansion in 1906 by the Masons family who took residence in 1866...
, is an Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
.
The course of Akeman Street
Akeman Street
Akeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked Watling Street with the Fosse Way. Its junction with Watling Steet was just north of Verulamium and that with the Fosse Way was at Corinium Dobunnorum...
Roman road
Roman 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...
linking Cirencester
Corinium Dobunnorum
Corinium Dobunnorum was the second largest town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Cirencester, located in the English county of Gloucestershire.-Fortress:...
with London forms part of the northern boundary of the parish. Two Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
s have been excavated in the parish. One is about 1 miles (1.6 km) northwest of the centre of the village and is not on display. The other, known as North Leigh Roman Villa
North Leigh Roman Villa
North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about north of the hamlet of East End in North Leigh civil parish in Oxfordshire. It is in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public.-Excavations:...
, is about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) north of East End. It is under the care of 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...
and is open to the public.
In 1928 the remains of eight Saxon
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
burials from the 7th century AD were found less than 1 miles (1.6 km) north of the centre of the village. The 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...
Leigh is also Saxon, derived from the Old English leah meaning a clearing. "North" distinguishes the village from South Leigh
South Leigh
South Leigh is a village and civil parish on Limb Brook, a small tributary of the River Thames, about east of Witney in Oxfordshire.-Manor:South Leigh was not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but was recorded in 1190 as Stanton Lega....
, less than 3 miles (5 km) to the south.
Manor
The Domesday BookDomesday 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...
nobleman 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...
held the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of North Leigh. D'Ivry was a brother in arms of 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...
who built Oxford Castle
Oxford Castle
Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined Norman medieval castle situated on the west edge of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. The original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced with stone in the 11th century and played an important role in the conflict of the Anarchy...
. Some of d'Ivry's manors, including North Leigh, 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...
. In the 13th century the honour of St. Valery passed to the Earl of Cornwall, but when 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,...
died childless in 1300 it then passed 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...
.
Lieu-Dieu Abbey in the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
area of northern France was founded in 1191, and shortly thereafter it was given the tenancy of North Leigh manor. In 1247 Lieu-Dieu sold the tenancy to the Cistercian Netley Abbey
Netley Abbey
Netley Abbey is a ruined late medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for Roman Catholic monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite being a royal abbey, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. In 1536 the Abbey was suppressed 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...
and the tenancy of North Leigh passed 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...
.
In 1544 the Crown granted the manor to Sir Thomas Pope
Thomas Pope
Sir Thomas Pope , founder of Trinity College, Oxford, was born at Deddington, near Banbury, Oxfordshire, probably in 1507, for he was about sixteen years old when his father, a yeoman farmer, died in 1523....
, with whose heirs it remained until a later Thomas Pope, the 3rd Earl of Downe
Earl of Downe
Earl of Downe was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 16 October 1628 for Sir William Pope, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Wilcote in the County of Oxford, in the Baronetage of England on 29 June 1611 and was made Baron Pope at the same time as he was...
sold it in 1660. From 1676 the manor belonged to the Perrott family, who had been linked with the Popes by marriage in the 16th century, and after whom Perrotts Hill Farm is named. Perrotts Hill farmhouse is 17th century or older, but was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1765 James Leigh-Perrott sold the manor of North Leigh to George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough KG, PC, FRS , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1758, was a British courtier and politician...
. At the time the manor had 1200 acres (485.6 ha) of land, but over the years the Blenheim Estate sold parts of it until by 1984 it retained only about 250 acres (101.2 ha).
Roger d'Ivry granted two thirds of the demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
tithe
Tithe
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...
s of the manor to St. George's church in Oxford Castle. In the 12th century St. George's church and its tithes passed to the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Osney Abbey
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...
in Oxford. In 1279 the remaining third of the tithes and an area of land in the parish were made over to the Cistercian Hailes Abbey
Hailes Abbey
Hailes Abbey is two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England.The abbey was founded in 1245 or 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, called "King of the Romans" and the younger brother of King Henry III of England. He was granted the manor of Hailes by Henry, and settled it with...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
had founded Hailes Abbey in 1245 or 1246, and also owned North Leigh manor. From 1314 Hailes Abbey also leased Osney Abbey's tithes from North Leigh. In the Dissolution of the Monasteries the land and tithes of the abbeys were taken by the Crown.
In 1544 the Crown granted the former Hailes land to three London citizens, and in 1555 one of them then granted it to the Bridewell Hospital
Bridewell Palace
Bridewell Palace in London, originally a residence of King Henry VIII, later became a poorhouse and prison. The name "Bridewell" subsequently became synonymous with police stations and detention facilities in England and in Ireland...
in London. North Leigh parish was farmed under the 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...
until 1759, when an Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....
allowed their enclosure
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...
. Bridewell Hospital received two farms, one of which is Bridewell Farm. The Bridewell farmhouse was built in 1761.
Church of England
The bell towerBell 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...
of 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 Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
is late Saxon
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...
, probably built in the first half of the 11th century. The building underwent a complicated series of alterations from the 12th to the 18th centuries, losing its Saxon nave to the west of the tower and gaining at various times a new 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...
, 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...
, aisles and two chapels east of the tower. St. Mary's is particularly notable for its fan vault
Fan vault
thumb|right|250px|Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey, Bath, England. Made from local Bath stone, this is a [[Victorian restoration]] of the original roof of 1608....
ed early 15th century Perpendicular Gothic style Wilcote 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 and its early 18th century Perrott burial chapel, both of which are of unusually high quality for a village parish church.
The Gothic Revival architect
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
G.E. Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
restored St. Mary's in 1864. 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 six bells that Mears and Stainbank of the 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...
cast in 1875.
Shortly after 1726 the vicarage just south of the church was demolished a new one was built. In 1811 a vicar complained that it was too small, so somewhen thereafter it was extended at the back. In 1981 the Diocese of Oxford
Diocese 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...
decided the vicarage was too big and sold it.
Other denominations
A QuakerReligious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
congregation was meeting in North Leigh by 1659 and in 1669 was reported to attract 60 or more people to its meetings. In 1738 North Leigh still had two Quaker families but by 1768 only one elderly man and his daughter remained.
By 1770 villagers from North Leigh were attending Weslayan
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
meetings in the area. The Wesleyan congregation seems to have had a chapel in Chapel Lane by the 1790's, which was rebuilt in 1820. The chapel was rebuilt again in 1873 and is now North Leigh Methodist Church
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...
.
Windmill Gospel Hall is a small independent church in Common Road that was built in the 20th century.
Social and economic history
By AD 1005 there was an east-west road through BladonBladon
Bladon is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about northwest of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.-Churches:The Parish Church of Saint Martin was originally 11th or 12th century, but was rebuilt twice in the 19th century: firstly in 1804, and then by the architect A.W...
, Long Hanborough
Long Hanborough
Long Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish, about northeast of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England.-History:The Church of England parish church was built in 1893...
and North Leigh parish that was the main link between Witney and 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...
. Over the centuries its course changed and it was straightened, and in 1751 it was made into a turnpike
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
. It ceased to be a turnpike in 1869, and the modern course of the road is now classified the A4095.
North Leigh's first record of a 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 from 1587, when Richard Breakspear was licenced as an ale-house keeper. In 1774 North Leigh three ale-houses: the Chequers, the Dun Cow and the King's Arms, but the Chequers and the Kings Arms had ceased trading by 1795. The Dun Cow was on the main road opposite the north gate of Eynsham Park. It too had ceased trading by the 1820's. By 1847 there were two new pubs: the Harcourt
Viscount Harcourt
The title Viscount Harcourt has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created in Great Britain in 1711 for Simon Harcourt, Lord Chancellor. The third viscount was created Earl Harcourt in 1749.The ancient family of...
Arms and the Parker Arms. The Parker Arms ceased trading about 1870. The Harcourt Arms used a house dating from 1783, and was turned back into a private house in 1984. North Leigh's next recorded pub was the Mason Arms, which had opened by 1871 and remains open today.
In 1642 Royalist
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...
troops were billeted in the village after the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Battle of Edgehill
Battle 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....
and "plundered and pillaged" the neighbourhood. On 4 June 1644 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...
, while retreating from Oxford, spent the night at Perrotts Hill Farm before continuing westwards to Burford
Burford
Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills in west Oxfordshire, England, about west of Oxford, southeast of Cheltenham and only from the Gloucestershire boundary...
.
In the centre of the village is North Leigh windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
. It is a tower mill
Tower mill
A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....
built in 1833 by Joseph Shepherd, who was a baker as well as a miller. It was restored in 1881 and 1933, but 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 cap was removed in 1940 to make an observation post. This led the interior of the building to fall into decay, and in the 1980's West Oxfordshire District Council tried to compel the owner to repair it. The mill still lacks sails, but it now has a new cap to make it weatherproof.
School
In 1721 Anne Perrott, wife of the Lord of the Manor, gave money to pay for a teacher and books for children in the village. By the 1830's the village had two schools, and in 1838 George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British peer and collector of antiquities and books.-Background and education:...
gave a site for a new school building into which to merge them. The school was built with a Parliamentary grant and organised as a National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
. The school often had more pupils than it was built for, and was enlarged in 1854, 1871 and 1885. It was reorganised as a junior school in 1928 and became a Church of England school
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...
in 1959. The school moved to a new building on a different site in 1967, and the old school building and teacher's house were sold as private housing in 1974.
Amenities
North Leigh F.C.North Leigh F.C.
North Leigh F.C. is a football club based in North Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire, England. In 1990, they joined the Hellenic League Division One. Their ground is outside the village near Eynsham Hall and has seats for 175 spectators on one side and covered standing accommodation behind one...
is an association football club founded in 1908. It plays in the Southern Football League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
Division 1 South & West. North Leigh has a Women's Institute.