Oakley, Buckinghamshire
Encyclopedia
Oakley is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale
district in Buckinghamshire
, England
of about 400 households with a population of 1,059 people (2001 Census) and an area of 2206 acres (892.7 ha). After Long Crendon
(population 2,500) and Brill
(1,190), it is the third most populous village in the immediate neighbourhood.
At one time it was thought Oakley held a very rare (and possibly unique) double distinction, in that a Victoria Cross
recipient, Edward Brooks
, and a Medal of Honor
recipient, James J. Pym, were both born in the village. However, the latter has been found to be from Garsington
, a village 10 miles (16.1 km) away in Oxfordshire
.
In 1963 Oakley was centre of national and international news, when Leatherslade Farm near Oakley was used as a hideout by the criminal gang involved in The Great Train Robbery
.
. It is roughly diamond shaped, extending a maximum 4.35 miles (7 km) east to west and 2 miles (3.2 km) south to north. Oakley parish is bounded to the north-west by Boarstall
parish, north-east by Brill, east by Chilton
, south by Ickford
and Worminghall
and in the extreme west by Horton-cum-Studley
in Oxfordshire. There were once three hamlets
that stood within the vicinity of the parish
of Oakley. Brill and Boarstall are now parishes in their own right. The hamlet of Studley was, many years ago, annexed to nearby Horton in Oxfordshire, to become Horton-cum-Studley. The hamlet of Little London, Oakley, Bucks
became part of Oakley parish in 1934 and lies to the north of the B4011 road. The final hamlet of Addingrove
now no longer exists, as the chapel has long since fallen into disrepair - although Addingrove Farm still exists and is 1.75 miles (2.8 km) south-east of Oakley.
The village proper is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-west of Long Crendon and 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Brill, mainly to the south of the B4011 road, midway between Thame
and Bicester
. The land is generally just below 300 feet (91.4 m) above sea level, that contour passing through Little London Green. At one time the village was owned by the dukes of Marlborough.
is derived from Old English meaning “Oak-lea”, a clearing within the oaks. Originally, the village was probably a collection of small huts around the stream, at the church end of the village, although the parish church as it is known today had not been built. The village would have been in Bernwood Forest
. The Forest was not oak trees from horizon to horizon, in the Early Middle Ages, a forest was defined as a hunting area, there would some densely wooded areas, shrub land, parks of pastureland and areas of cultivation.
Oakley's name has been variously spelt through the ages (parenthesised dates denote earliest occurrence): Acleia (Old English); Akleia (Old English); Achelei (1086); Akeley (12th century), Okelee (1206); Aclei, Acle, Ocle (13th century); Ocle iuxta Brehull (14th century); Accleia; Acley (1342); Whokeley (16th century), Okeley, Oakele, Ocley.
of land granted her by Godric the sheriff
on condition that she taught his daughter embroidery. Alwid is supposed to have been the same lady who held lands in Wiltshire
under the name of Leuide, embroiderer to the King and Queen.
Oakley, like many English settlements, has its first written mention in the Domesday Book
in 1086. It was a settlement in the Hundred of Ixhill. Robert Doyley
, son of Walter, held Achelei (as Oakley was called). The exact area is not known, since borders with other local villages were not specified. The village was valued at £6, and its land consisted of 5¾ hides; with Oakley’s clay soil the total cultivated land would have been around 550 acres (222.6 ha). Seven ploughs, three by the Lord of the Manor and four by nine villagers (consisting of seven smallholdings) tilled the land. There were three slaves in the village and there was enough woodland for 200 pigs. Other local places mentioned in the Domesday Book were Brill, Addingrove and Nashway.
The earliest parts, the nave and some pillars, of the present church date from around 1100. In 1142 Empress Matilda
granted Oakley parish church
, with its chapels of Brill, Boarstall and Addingrove to the monks of St. Frideswide's Priory, in Oxford. St Frideswide monastery much later became Christ Church, Oxford
. In 1208 William Basset was confirmed by King John
, the knight's fee
of Oakley (i.e. the Manor of Oakley), which his grandfather Osmund had held by charter of Brian FitzCount. In 1222 Ralphe de Norwich became first Rector
of Oakley, appointed by the Henry III
who had recovered the right of advowson
by judgement of his Court at Westminster
. Ralphe later founded the priory at Chetwode
in 1226. A transaction in 1224 mentions selion
s (cultivated strips of land) in Oakley, suggesting an open field system, i.e. no fences or hedges. The Oakley area would have been a populated landscape of mixed farming and woodland, with roadways, drovers' roads, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and pigs, small areas of meadow, and open fields of barley and oats (and possibly some wheat).
became the first vicar
of Oakley (as opposed to rector). 1349 William de Grauntpont died in office as vicar of Oakley, probably of the Black Death
. The first estimate of Oakley's population was, made by Lysons, of 257 in 1377.
In 1522 Oakley’s population of men eligible for military service (ages 16–60) was estimated at 140. The oldest existing houses in the village date from around this time. In 1570 coppicing enclosures drew complaints from Richard Leigh of Oakley (lord of Oakley). In 1586 Oakley had about 248 inhabitants in 56 households (22 landholders and 58 with small cottages within the Forest). These figures were drawn up by Hugh Cope of Oakley in his Court of the Exchequer return.
In 1589 Roman Catholic layman Thomas Belson
escaped capture in Aston Rowant
, Oxfordshire and fled to Ixhill Lodge in Oakley, where he hid in a priest hole
. After some time he went to Oxford
but was captured, tried and convicted in London and was hanged, drawn and quartered
in Oxford.
decided to remove Royal Forest
status from Bernwood Forest, along with the severe laws protecting its contents (wood, animals and people). This was a most significant event for Oakley (and Brill and Boarstall), and transformed the economic balance of society. It modernised the farming structures of the communities in ways that left problems of poverty and rural under-employment for the smallholders and the landless.
The process of disafforestation — analogous in modern terms to privatisation — should not be confused with deforestation
, meaning to strip a forest of its trees. Nevertheless, disafforestation of Bernwood Forest led to a gradual deforestation over subsequent centuries.
The Cottrell-Dormer enumeration of cottages recorded Oakley's population as 122 in 1622. In 1626 nine men were summoned to Aylesbury to resolve disafforestation issues. Two, Sir Timothy Tyrrell and John Dynham were from Oakley.
The effect of the English Civil War
of 1642–46 on Oakley is unrecorded. It was near the front line between the Parliamentarian
and Royalist
sides. It was at this time the church font was smashed, according to local tradition, by Parliamentarian troops. Foraging by soldiers from both sides would have made caused even more problems to local villagers exacerbating problems due to disafforestation. In 1662, according to Hearth tax returns the population was 238. The Compton Census returned a population of 258 for Oakley in 1676.
's visitation returns recorded Oakley as having 216 inhabitants. In 1713 a lace school
is recorded as being in the village. On 8 May 1718 George I
made William Cadogan
the 1st Baron Cadogan of Oakley. Oakley's surviving parish records start in 1726, later than many English parishes. Most local parishes have registers dating from the 16th century, Worminghall going back to 1538.
The index of the Poll for Knights of the Shire for the County of Bucks in April, 1784, listed 11 knights in Oakley: Edward Batt, Thomas Dorrington, Isaac Fennimore, Thomas Hawes, Francis Kirby, Leonard Paulin, Robert Piers, Thomas Needham Rees, John Stevens, Reverend Robert Twicross and Thomas Wyatt.
In 1790 Mark Ing was recorded as being a member of the Oakley Morris Men
. In 1798 Buckinghamshire was the only county to have kept a complete record of an early census called Posse Commitatus
. Oakley at this time had 21 farmers, a cordwainer, a carpenter, a pedlar and a schoolmaster (although Oakley’s school was not established until the 1850s). 24 labourers and 12 other men were listed.
of 1801 recorded 257 inhabitants in 65 families living in 34 houses recorded in Oakley. The 1811 dcensus recorded 325 people in Oakley. The first attempt to enclose
Oakley was in 1818 and was unsuccessful.
382 people were recorded in the 1821 census. In the same year, the enclosure
of common land was opposed by a mob that tried to prevent the attorney attaching notice of it to the church door. Villagers were outraged because large areas of land were granted to local landowners and 155 acres (62.7 ha) were sold to cover the cost of the enclosure. Only 25 acres (10.1 ha) were awarded to smallholders and only 4 acres (1.6 ha) were set aside for the poor. The poor in Oakley would have to survive on what was left of Poor Folk’s Pasture in Boarstall parish, itself subject to stringent eligibility rules. The enclosure listed every landowner in the village. The 1831 census gave Oakley's population as 413. In 1833 a turnpike
was approved between Bicester and Thame, passing through the centre of Oakley. This is now the B4011 and bypasses the village.
The first four censuses were merely a head count, but the United Kingdom Census 1841
was more detailed.
The 1851 census noted that houses had been demolished in Oakley as villagers left (for English cities and emigration to the Americas). The population was 425.
Oakley School was first recorded in use in 1853, in what is now School Lane. The first headmaster was Henry Fenemore.
In the 1860s Charles Edmund Clutterbuck
, a master stained glass
artist, made two windows for the parish church. They are the south window in the vestry and the east window in the north aisle. Between the years 1880-1887 Oakley church was re-dedicated from Saint Matthew to Saint Mary
.
In 1889 a new local magazine was first printed, Waddesdon
Deanery News. There was no mention of any Oakley people in the page of Oakley news in issue 1. However, in issue Number 2 in February 1889 carried the story about a pantomime and concert at the school – a complete success that befittingly crowned the exertions and careful organisations of its promoter, Miss Boys. A full-dress rehearsal of the piece was given on the previous evening to the Sunday School. Children were not invited in vain, a tea feast (generously given by Mrs. Kirby) winding up an extra-special treat, which coming as a surprise was all the more thoroughly enjoyed.
The first Parish Council was formed on 19 December 1894. Its members were Thomas Brooks, James Eborn, Rev. William Greenwood, James Kirby and Thomas Kirby.
On 1 August 1910 the British painter etcher and engraver James Henry Govier
was born at Oakley to Henry and Mary Ann (née Measey) Govier. In 1914 the family moved to Gorseinon
in Glamorgan
.
During the First Wold War
village boys went to war and 23 gave their lives for their country, including four brothers named Measey. Charles, Frank, George and Thomas were the sons of Joseph and Martha Measey (née Gladdy) of The Royal Oak. Thomas the first to be killed was a private in the 101st Machine Gun Corps
. He died on 20 January 1917 aged 33 and was buried at the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery at Armentieres in France. Charles was a private in the 146th Machine Gun Corps and was killed on 11 November 1917. He is buried at the Aeroplane Cemetery in Belgium. Frank was a corporal in the 7th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
. He was killed in action on 22 June 1918 and was buried at the Karasouli Military Cemetery on the Macedonian front
in Greece. George the fourth son to be die, was a private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He ended up as a wounded prisoner of war at the Hotel Berthad at Chateau Loes in Switzerland and died of illness on 5 October 1918. He is buried at St. Martin's Cemetery, Vevey
, Switzerland.
The alehouse called The Foresters on the Bicester Road closed in about 1919. An alehouse was an ordinary domestic house in which people were allowed to come into the kitchen or front room to drink beer, but not spirits.
In 1934, by Bucks Review Order, Little London, then part of Brill, was added to Oakley. On 27 May 1942 RAF Oakley
became operational, initially a satellite airfield for RAF Bicester and then in August 1942 as RAF Westcott
’s satellite. The 11th Operational Training Unit
(OTU) moved to Westcott in September 1942, many Vickers Wellington
s were based at Oakley. After Victory in Europe Day
in 1945, orders were received to clear the hangar and fit it for the provision of refreshment and succour to thousands of repatriated prisoners of war brought here as part of Operation Exodus. RAF Oakley was closed to military flying in August of that year. Two men from Oakley died in the war and are commemorated on the Oakley Roll of Honour.
Halls Brewery gave the playing fields to Oakley Village in 1948.
In 1957 Oakley Village Hall was completed having been built and financed by the village. In 1959 the original Oakley School in Bicester Road was closed and Oakley Combined School in Worminghall Road was opened, the first new post-war school to be built in Aylesbury Vale. The Sun Inn, an alehouse rather than a public house, closed in about 1961.
In 1963 Oakley was centre of national and international news, when Leatherslade Farm near Oakley was used as a hideout by the criminal gang involved in The Great Train Robbery
. John Maris, a local farm worker, alerted police to the hideout at Leatherslade Farm. John Wooley, local policeman from Brill was the first policeman to go to the hideout.
On 16 January 1991 Malcolm Rifkind
opened the section of the M40 Motorway
: the 11.4 miles (18.3 km) stretch between Waterstock
and Wendlebury
, passing through Oakley parish. In 1997 the Oakley Village Appraisal / ACORN report reviewed what villagers thought about the village and what changes they would like to see. It was the most successful village appraisal in Buckinghamshire for a village of Oakley's size, with over 70% response.
, John Wooley and John Maris (see above) - all meeting for the first time. On show were memorabilia from the robbery, Bruce Reynold's Lotus Cortina
, the lorry and one of the Land Rover
s used in the raid. Like many other English villages, Oakley has in recent years lost its Post Office, shop, surgery and filling station
. Remaining businesses include two public house
s (the Chandos Arms and Royal Oak) and the garage.
Oakley Church of England Combined School is a mixed, voluntary controlled primary school, that takes children between the ages of four and 11. It has about 100 pupils.
The village has a football club, Oakley United.
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...
district in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, 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...
of about 400 households with a population of 1,059 people (2001 Census) and an area of 2206 acres (892.7 ha). After Long Crendon
Long Crendon
Long Crendon is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Haddenham and north-west of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire.The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War...
(population 2,500) and Brill
Brill
Brill is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire. It is about north-west of Long Crendon and south-east of Bicester...
(1,190), it is the third most populous village in the immediate neighbourhood.
At one time it was thought Oakley held a very rare (and possibly unique) double distinction, in that a Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
recipient, Edward Brooks
Edward Brooks
Edward Brooks VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
, and a Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient, James J. Pym, were both born in the village. However, the latter has been found to be from Garsington
Garsington
Garsington is a village and civil parish about southeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire.-Notable Garsington buildings:The earliest part of the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is the Norman tower, built towards the end of the 12th century. The Gothic Revival architect Joseph Clarke restored...
, a village 10 miles (16.1 km) away in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
In 1963 Oakley was centre of national and international news, when Leatherslade Farm near Oakley was used as a hideout by the criminal gang involved in The Great Train Robbery
Great Train Robbery (1963)
The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...
.
Geography
The parish is in the west of Buckinghamshire, adjoining the boundary with OxfordshireOxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. It is roughly diamond shaped, extending a maximum 4.35 miles (7 km) east to west and 2 miles (3.2 km) south to north. Oakley parish is bounded to the north-west by Boarstall
Boarstall
Boarstall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about west of Aylesbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about southeast of the Oxfordshire market town of Bicester.-History:...
parish, north-east by Brill, east by Chilton
Chilton, Buckinghamshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, about north of Thame in Oxfordshire. Chilton parish includes the hamlet of Easington .-Manor:The toponym "Chilton" is derived from the Old English for "young man's farm"...
, south by Ickford
Ickford
Ickford is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the boundary with Oxfordshire, about west of the market town of Thame....
and Worminghall
Worminghall
Worminghall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is near the boundary with Oxfordshire and about west of Thame.The village toponym is derived from Old English meaning 'Wyrma's nook of land'...
and in the extreme west by Horton-cum-Studley
Horton-cum-Studley
Horton-cum-Studley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about northeast of the centre of Oxford.-Civil parish:The hamlet of Studley was originally in two parts: one in Oxfordshire and the other in the Hundred of Ashendon in Buckinghamshire. Horton was always part of Oxfordshire...
in Oxfordshire. There were once three 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...
that stood within the vicinity of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Oakley. Brill and Boarstall are now parishes in their own right. The hamlet of Studley was, many years ago, annexed to nearby Horton in Oxfordshire, to become Horton-cum-Studley. The hamlet of Little London, Oakley, Bucks
Little London, Oakley, Bucks
Little London is a hamlet of around 70 houses to the east of Oakley in Buckinghamshire. It is first mentioned around the 16th century and is clearly visible on the New College, Oxford map of Bernwood Forest of 1590...
became part of Oakley parish in 1934 and lies to the north of the B4011 road. The final hamlet of Addingrove
Addingrove
Addingrove was a small hamlet between Oakley and Long Crendon, now only represented by a farm and a cottage. Its land was divided amongst the villages of Oakley, Brill and Chilton.-History:...
now no longer exists, as the chapel has long since fallen into disrepair - although Addingrove Farm still exists and is 1.75 miles (2.8 km) south-east of Oakley.
The village proper is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-west of Long Crendon and 1 miles (1.6 km) south of Brill, mainly to the south of the B4011 road, midway between Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
and 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...
. The land is generally just below 300 feet (91.4 m) above sea level, that contour passing through Little London Green. At one time the village was owned by the dukes of Marlborough.
Etymology
Oakley’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...
is derived from Old English meaning “Oak-lea”, a clearing within the oaks. Originally, the village was probably a collection of small huts around the stream, at the church end of the village, although the parish church as it is known today had not been built. The village would have been in Bernwood Forest
Bernwood Forest
Bernwood was one of several forests of the ancient kingdom of England and was a Royal hunting forest. It is thought to have been set aside as Royal hunting land when the Anglo-Saxon kings had a palace at Brill in the 10th century and was a particularly favoured place of Edward the Confessor, who...
. The Forest was not oak trees from horizon to horizon, in the Early Middle Ages, a forest was defined as a hunting area, there would some densely wooded areas, shrub land, parks of pastureland and areas of cultivation.
Oakley's name has been variously spelt through the ages (parenthesised dates denote earliest occurrence): Acleia (Old English); Akleia (Old English); Achelei (1086); Akeley (12th century), Okelee (1206); Aclei, Acle, Ocle (13th century); Ocle iuxta Brehull (14th century); Accleia; Acley (1342); Whokeley (16th century), Okeley, Oakele, Ocley.
11th to 13th centuries
Before the Norman Conquest two hides of land in Oakley belonged to Alwid (or Ælfgeth) the maid, and another half a hideHide (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 granted her by Godric the sheriff
Godric the Sheriff
Godric was the Anglo Saxon sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire in the 11th century prior to the Norman Conquest.As a sheriff, he had the powers of arrest, he could raise armies, collect taxes and levies, and he presided over courts, dealt with traitors and generally supervised on the King’s...
on condition that she taught his daughter embroidery. Alwid is supposed to have been the same lady who held lands in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
under the name of Leuide, embroiderer to the King and Queen.
Oakley, like many English settlements, has its first written mention 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...
in 1086. It was a settlement in the Hundred of Ixhill. Robert Doyley
Robert D'Oyly (Oxford)
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...
, son of Walter, held Achelei (as Oakley was called). The exact area is not known, since borders with other local villages were not specified. The village was valued at £6, and its land consisted of 5¾ hides; with Oakley’s clay soil the total cultivated land would have been around 550 acres (222.6 ha). Seven ploughs, three by the Lord of the Manor and four by nine villagers (consisting of seven smallholdings) tilled the land. There were three slaves in the village and there was enough woodland for 200 pigs. Other local places mentioned in the Domesday Book were Brill, Addingrove and Nashway.
The earliest parts, the nave and some pillars, of the present church date from around 1100. In 1142 Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
granted Oakley 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....
, with its chapels of Brill, Boarstall and Addingrove to the monks of St. Frideswide's Priory, in Oxford. St Frideswide monastery much later became Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. In 1208 William Basset was confirmed by King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
, the knight's fee
Knight's fee
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a measure of a unit of land deemed sufficient from which a knight could derive not only sustenance for himself and his esquires, but also the means to furnish himself and his equipage with horses and armour to fight for his overlord in...
of Oakley (i.e. the Manor of Oakley), which his grandfather Osmund had held by charter of Brian FitzCount. In 1222 Ralphe de Norwich became first Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Oakley, appointed by the Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
who had recovered the right of advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
by judgement of his Court at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
. Ralphe later founded the priory at Chetwode
Chetwode
Chetwode is a civil parish about southwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. The parish is bounded to the southwest and southeast by a brook called The Birne, which here also forms part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire....
in 1226. A transaction in 1224 mentions selion
Selion
Selion is a mediaeval open strip of land or small field used for growing crops, usually owned by or rented to peasants. A selion of land was typically one furlong long and one chain wide. However, exact measurements could vary depending on geography of the land. The area of one furlong by one...
s (cultivated strips of land) in Oakley, suggesting an open field system, i.e. no fences or hedges. The Oakley area would have been a populated landscape of mixed farming and woodland, with roadways, drovers' roads, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and pigs, small areas of meadow, and open fields of barley and oats (and possibly some wheat).
14th to 16th centuries
1327 John de AbingdonAbingdon, 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...
became the first vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Oakley (as opposed to rector). 1349 William de Grauntpont died in office as vicar of Oakley, probably of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
. The first estimate of Oakley's population was, made by Lysons, of 257 in 1377.
In 1522 Oakley’s population of men eligible for military service (ages 16–60) was estimated at 140. The oldest existing houses in the village date from around this time. In 1570 coppicing enclosures drew complaints from Richard Leigh of Oakley (lord of Oakley). In 1586 Oakley had about 248 inhabitants in 56 households (22 landholders and 58 with small cottages within the Forest). These figures were drawn up by Hugh Cope of Oakley in his Court of the Exchequer return.
In 1589 Roman Catholic layman Thomas Belson
Thomas Belson
Blessed Thomas Belson was an English Roman Catholic layman. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.-Life:...
escaped capture in Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount, and adjoins Buckinghamshire to the southeast....
, Oxfordshire and fled to Ixhill Lodge in Oakley, where he hid 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....
. After some time he went to 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...
but was captured, tried and convicted in London and was hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
in Oxford.
17th century
In 1603 the Return of Communicants gave Oakley's population as 238. In the period 1622 to 1635 the CrownThe 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...
decided to remove 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...
status from Bernwood Forest, along with the severe laws protecting its contents (wood, animals and people). This was a most significant event for Oakley (and Brill and Boarstall), and transformed the economic balance of society. It modernised the farming structures of the communities in ways that left problems of poverty and rural under-employment for the smallholders and the landless.
The process of disafforestation — analogous in modern terms to privatisation — should not be confused with deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
, meaning to strip a forest of its trees. Nevertheless, disafforestation of Bernwood Forest led to a gradual deforestation over subsequent centuries.
The Cottrell-Dormer enumeration of cottages recorded Oakley's population as 122 in 1622. In 1626 nine men were summoned to Aylesbury to resolve disafforestation issues. Two, Sir Timothy Tyrrell and John Dynham were from Oakley.
The effect of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
of 1642–46 on Oakley is unrecorded. It was near the front line between the Parliamentarian
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...
and 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...
sides. It was at this time the church font was smashed, according to local tradition, by Parliamentarian troops. Foraging by soldiers from both sides would have made caused even more problems to local villagers exacerbating problems due to disafforestation. In 1662, according to Hearth tax returns the population was 238. The Compton Census returned a population of 258 for Oakley in 1676.
18th century
Bishop WakeWilliam Wake
William Wake was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737.-Life:...
's visitation returns recorded Oakley as having 216 inhabitants. In 1713 a lace school
Lace school
Lace schools were common in Britain from the 17th to 19th century to teach lace-making.Lace schools were often the living rooms of small cottages and were known for being overcrowded, badly lit and often unsanitary...
is recorded as being in the village. On 8 May 1718 George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
made William Cadogan
William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan
William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan KT PC was a noted military officer in the army of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession...
the 1st Baron Cadogan of Oakley. Oakley's surviving parish records start in 1726, later than many English parishes. Most local parishes have registers dating from the 16th century, Worminghall going back to 1538.
The index of the Poll for Knights of the Shire for the County of Bucks in April, 1784, listed 11 knights in Oakley: Edward Batt, Thomas Dorrington, Isaac Fennimore, Thomas Hawes, Francis Kirby, Leonard Paulin, Robert Piers, Thomas Needham Rees, John Stevens, Reverend Robert Twicross and Thomas Wyatt.
In 1790 Mark Ing was recorded as being a member of the Oakley Morris Men
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
. In 1798 Buckinghamshire was the only county to have kept a complete record of an early census called Posse Commitatus
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
. Oakley at this time had 21 farmers, a cordwainer, a carpenter, a pedlar and a schoolmaster (although Oakley’s school was not established until the 1850s). 24 labourers and 12 other men were listed.
19th century
The United Kingdom CensusCensus in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
of 1801 recorded 257 inhabitants in 65 families living in 34 houses recorded in Oakley. The 1811 dcensus recorded 325 people in Oakley. The first attempt to enclose
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...
Oakley was in 1818 and was unsuccessful.
382 people were recorded in the 1821 census. In the same year, the 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...
of common land was opposed by a mob that tried to prevent the attorney attaching notice of it to the church door. Villagers were outraged because large areas of land were granted to local landowners and 155 acres (62.7 ha) were sold to cover the cost of the enclosure. Only 25 acres (10.1 ha) were awarded to smallholders and only 4 acres (1.6 ha) were set aside for the poor. The poor in Oakley would have to survive on what was left of Poor Folk’s Pasture in Boarstall parish, itself subject to stringent eligibility rules. The enclosure listed every landowner in the village. The 1831 census gave Oakley's population as 413. In 1833 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...
was approved between Bicester and Thame, passing through the centre of Oakley. This is now the B4011 and bypasses the village.
The first four censuses were merely a head count, but the United Kingdom Census 1841
United Kingdom Census 1841
The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every UK household on the night of 6 June, 1841. It was described as the "first modern census" in that it was the first to record information about every member of the household and because it was administered as a single event, under...
was more detailed.
The 1851 census noted that houses had been demolished in Oakley as villagers left (for English cities and emigration to the Americas). The population was 425.
Oakley School was first recorded in use in 1853, in what is now School Lane. The first headmaster was Henry Fenemore.
In the 1860s Charles Edmund Clutterbuck
Charles Edmund Clutterbuck
Charles Clutterbuck was a stained glass artist of Stratford, East London. He was originally a painter of miniatures and exhibited eight paintings at the Royal Academy. He began stained glass work in the 1840s. Examples of his work can be seen in many Churches in the South East of England...
, a master 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...
artist, made two windows for the parish church. They are the south window in the vestry and the east window in the north aisle. Between the years 1880-1887 Oakley church was re-dedicated from Saint Matthew to 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...
.
In 1889 a new local magazine was first printed, Waddesdon
Waddesdon
Waddesdon is a village within the Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, 6 miles from Aylesbury on the A41 road. The centre of a civil parish, including the hamlets of Eythrope, Wormstone and Woodham, Waddesdon was an agricultural settlement with milling, silk weaving and lace making...
Deanery News. There was no mention of any Oakley people in the page of Oakley news in issue 1. However, in issue Number 2 in February 1889 carried the story about a pantomime and concert at the school – a complete success that befittingly crowned the exertions and careful organisations of its promoter, Miss Boys. A full-dress rehearsal of the piece was given on the previous evening to the Sunday School. Children were not invited in vain, a tea feast (generously given by Mrs. Kirby) winding up an extra-special treat, which coming as a surprise was all the more thoroughly enjoyed.
The first Parish Council was formed on 19 December 1894. Its members were Thomas Brooks, James Eborn, Rev. William Greenwood, James Kirby and Thomas Kirby.
20th century
Oakley Public Library (in the Lady Verney Reading Room) was opened on 17 February 1911 and closed in 1936.On 1 August 1910 the British painter etcher and engraver James Henry Govier
James Henry Govier
James Henry Govier was an English painter born at Oakley, Buckinghamshire.He was the only son of Henry Govier and Mary Ann Measey. In 1914 the family moved to the small town of Gorseinon in Gower near Swansea, where James was educated at the local school. At the age of fourteen he left school to...
was born at Oakley to Henry and Mary Ann (née Measey) Govier. In 1914 the family moved to Gorseinon
Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town in southwest Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swansea, around north west of the city centre...
in Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
.
During the First Wold War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
village boys went to war and 23 gave their lives for their country, including four brothers named Measey. Charles, Frank, George and Thomas were the sons of Joseph and Martha Measey (née Gladdy) of The Royal Oak. Thomas the first to be killed was a private in the 101st Machine Gun Corps
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...
. He died on 20 January 1917 aged 33 and was buried at the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery at Armentieres in France. Charles was a private in the 146th Machine Gun Corps and was killed on 11 November 1917. He is buried at the Aeroplane Cemetery in Belgium. Frank was a corporal in the 7th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was formed as a consequence of Childers reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 52nd Regiment of Foot , forming the 1st...
. He was killed in action on 22 June 1918 and was buried at the Karasouli Military Cemetery on the Macedonian front
Macedonian front (World War I)
The Macedonian Front resulted from an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The expedition came too late and in insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia, and was complicated by the internal...
in Greece. George the fourth son to be die, was a private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He ended up as a wounded prisoner of war at the Hotel Berthad at Chateau Loes in Switzerland and died of illness on 5 October 1918. He is buried at St. Martin's Cemetery, Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland.
The alehouse called The Foresters on the Bicester Road closed in about 1919. An alehouse was an ordinary domestic house in which people were allowed to come into the kitchen or front room to drink beer, but not spirits.
In 1934, by Bucks Review Order, Little London, then part of Brill, was added to Oakley. On 27 May 1942 RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley was a World War II three-runway airfield between Oakley and Worminghall, Buckinghamshire. It was located in a flat, damp wooded area.-World War II usage:...
became operational, initially a satellite airfield for RAF Bicester and then in August 1942 as RAF Westcott
RAF Westcott
RAF Westcott was a World War II Royal Air Force station in Buckinghamshire. It was used by 11 OTU during the war, along with its satellite station RAF Oakley...
’s satellite. The 11th Operational Training Unit
Operational Conversion Unit
An Operational Conversion Unit is a unit within an air force whose role is to support preparation for the operational missions of a specific aircraft type by providing trained personnel. OCUs teach pilots how to fly an aircraft and which tactics best exploit the performance of their aircraft and...
(OTU) moved to Westcott in September 1942, many Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
s were based at Oakley. After Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
in 1945, orders were received to clear the hangar and fit it for the provision of refreshment and succour to thousands of repatriated prisoners of war brought here as part of Operation Exodus. RAF Oakley was closed to military flying in August of that year. Two men from Oakley died in the war and are commemorated on the Oakley Roll of Honour.
Halls Brewery gave the playing fields to Oakley Village in 1948.
In 1957 Oakley Village Hall was completed having been built and financed by the village. In 1959 the original Oakley School in Bicester Road was closed and Oakley Combined School in Worminghall Road was opened, the first new post-war school to be built in Aylesbury Vale. The Sun Inn, an alehouse rather than a public house, closed in about 1961.
In 1963 Oakley was centre of national and international news, when Leatherslade Farm near Oakley was used as a hideout by the criminal gang involved in The Great Train Robbery
Great Train Robbery (1963)
The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...
. John Maris, a local farm worker, alerted police to the hideout at Leatherslade Farm. John Wooley, local policeman from Brill was the first policeman to go to the hideout.
On 16 January 1991 Malcolm Rifkind
Malcolm Rifkind
Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind KCMG QC MP is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Kensington. He served in various roles as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Scotland , Defence Secretary and...
opened the section of the M40 Motorway
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
: the 11.4 miles (18.3 km) stretch between Waterstock
Waterstock
Waterstock is village and civil parish on the River Thame about west of the town of Thame in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded to the north and west by the river, to the south largely by the A418 main road, and to the east largely by the minor road between Tiddington and Ickford Bridge across the...
and Wendlebury
Wendlebury
Wendlebury is a village and civil parish about southwest of Bicester and about from Junction 9 of the M40. The village is on a steam that flows through the centre of the village parallel with the main street....
, passing through Oakley parish. In 1997 the Oakley Village Appraisal / ACORN report reviewed what villagers thought about the village and what changes they would like to see. It was the most successful village appraisal in Buckinghamshire for a village of Oakley's size, with over 70% response.
21st century
In 2003 Oakley featured in national and international news again through an exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery. The guest speakers included the mastermind behind the robbery and ex-gang-leader Bruce ReynoldsBruce Reynolds
Bruce Richard Reynolds was part of the gang behind the 'Great Train Robbery' in 1963 in £2.6 million was stolen....
, John Wooley and John Maris (see above) - all meeting for the first time. On show were memorabilia from the robbery, Bruce Reynold's Lotus Cortina
Lotus Cortina
The Lotus-Cortina is a high-performance car, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by the Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on the Ford Cortina Mark 1, was promoted by Ford as the "Consul Cortina developed by Lotus", with "Consul"...
, the lorry and one of the Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
s used in the raid. Like many other English villages, Oakley has in recent years lost its Post Office, shop, surgery and filling station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
. Remaining businesses include two 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...
s (the Chandos Arms and Royal Oak) and the garage.
Oakley Church of England Combined School is a mixed, voluntary controlled primary school, that takes children between the ages of four and 11. It has about 100 pupils.
The village has a football club, Oakley United.
Other Local Information
- Addingrove was a hamlet with a chapel of easeChapel of easeA chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
, no longer in existence, southeast of Oakley. - HoneyburgeHoneyburgeHoneyburge is a handful of houses in west Central Buckinghamshire, England, in the parish of Boarstall. It is located to the west of Oakley and the south of Boarstall; adjacent to the Magnolia Golf Course. The hamlet can be seen from the M40 motorway....
is a hamlet in Boarstall parish to the west of Oakley. - Little London is a hamlet north of the B4011. It is now attached to Oakley but until 1934 it was part of the parish of Brill.
- Oakley featured obliquely in J.R.R. Tolkien's comic novella Farmer Giles of HamFarmer Giles of Ham"Farmer Giles of Ham" is a Medieval fable written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949. The story describes the encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax, and how Giles manages to use these to rise from humble beginnings to rival the king of the land...
, in which Oakley is the first village ravaged (and its parson eaten) by the dragon Chrysophylax Dives. ("Ham" is ThameThameThame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
, Oxfordshire, 6 miles (10 km) away).
Notable residents
- Edward Brooks (1883–1944), recipient of the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, was born in Oakley. - James Henry GovierJames Henry GovierJames Henry Govier was an English painter born at Oakley, Buckinghamshire.He was the only son of Henry Govier and Mary Ann Measey. In 1914 the family moved to the small town of Gorseinon in Gower near Swansea, where James was educated at the local school. At the age of fourteen he left school to...
(1910–74), British artist, was born in the village. - ColinColin GreenwoodColin Charles Greenwood , is an English musician and composer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Radiohead. Apart from bass, Colin plays keyboards, synthesizers and works on sampling on the electronic side of Radiohead...
(born 1969) and Jonny GreenwoodJonny GreenwoodJonathan Richard Guy "Jonny" Greenwood is an English musician and composer, best known as a member of the English rock band Radiohead. Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist, but serves mainly as lead guitarist and keyboard player. In addition to guitar and keyboard, he plays viola, harmonica,...
(born 1971) of the pop group RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
lived in the village when young. - David IckeDavid IckeDavid Vaughan Icke is an English writer and public speaker, best known for his views on what he calls "who and what is really controlling the world." Describing himself as the most controversial speaker in the world, he has written 18 books explaining his position, and has attracted a substantial...
(born 1952), former English footballer and TV presenter and now "full-time investigator into who and what is really controlling the world" lived in the village in the early 1980s. - Max MosleyMax MosleyMax Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
(born 1940), president of the Fédération Internationale de l'AutomobileFédération Internationale de l'AutomobileThe Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
. - Elizabeth TyrrellElizabeth Tyrrell (nee Ussher)Elizabeth Tyrrell, daughter of James Ussher, Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and Phoebe Ussher was born in London in 1619. Around 1653 she married Sir Timothy Tyrrell, of Oakley, Buckinghamshire. They later moved from Oakley to Shotover...
(1619–83), daughter of churchman Dr. James UssherJames UssherJames Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
and wife of Sir Timothy Tyrrell (below). - James Tyrrell (1643–1718), Commissioner of the Privy SealPrivy SealA privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official government document.-Privy Seal of England:The Privy Seal of England can be traced back to the reign of King John...
from 1697 - John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (Oakley)Captain John Tyrrell of Oakley, Buckinghamshire, son of Sir Timothy Tyrrell and Dame Elizabeth, his wife, was made by Charles II of England the Second Admiral in the East Indies....
(1646–92), Second Admiral of the East IndiesEast IndiesEast Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. - Sir Timothy Tyrrell (1617–1701), army officer, Master of the BuckhoundsMaster of the BuckhoundsThe Master of the Buckhounds was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. It was a political office, so the holder, who was always a nobleman, changed with every change of government. The office...
to Charles ICharles I of EnglandCharles 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...
. - Stan WoodellStan WoodellStan Woodell was a British botanist.Stanley Reginald John Woodell was born in Shepherds Bush,London. He obtained a degree in Botany from Durham University and also studied the pollination biology of the genus Primula for his PhD at the same university. He was a University Lecturer in Botany at...
(1928–2004), botanist, lived in the village from the 1960s until his death.