Rousham
Encyclopedia
Rousham is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell
in Oxfordshire
. The village is about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west
of Bicester
and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Kidlington
. The parish is bounded by the River Cherwell in the east, the A4260 main road between Oxford
and Banbury
in the west, partly by the B4030 in the north, and by field boundaries with Tackley
parish in the south.
Rousham was founded early in Saxon
times. Its toponym
is derived from Old English meaning Hrothwulfs ham or farm.
records that in 1086 there were two manors
at Rousham. The larger belonged to the Norman
nobleman Robert D'Oyly
and the smaller to his brother in arms Roger d'Ivry
. The D'Oyly manor later became part of the honour
of Wallingford and in 1279 its overlord was Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
. The latest known records of Rousham remaining in the Honour of Wallingford are from the 15th century. The d'Ivry family line died out in 1215 and the d'Ivry manor at Rousham became part of the Honour of St. Valery
. In 1237 Henry III
granted the d'Ivry manor at Rousham to Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
and in 1279 it, like the D'Oyly manor, was held by Richard's son Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall.
was to Saint Germanus of Auxerre
, recorded in 1328. A "German's Well" recorded in the parish in 1626 refers to St. Germanus. By 1846 the church had been rededicated to Saint Mary
and by 1864 it had been changed again to Saint James. The present dedication of Saint Leonard
and Saint James dates from 1904.
The church building dates from the 12th century. The easternmost bay
of the arcade
for the south arcade was built in about 1180 and the bell tower
was added early in the 13th century. Between 1296 and 1316 a chantry
chapel was added to the north side of the nave
. Slightly later the south aisle was extended the full length of the nave, a south chapel was included and a south porch was added. The arch to the south chapel is 14th century and all the windows of the south aisle are Decorated Gothic. In the 15th century a clerestorey was added to the nave and a rood
screen and rood loft were built across the nave and aisle. The chantry chapel was in disrepair by 1520 and demolished shortly after 1530. Later in the 16th century a large window was inserted in the north wall of the nave towards its western end. It and all the other windows in the north wall are Perpendicular Gothic. In 1867-68 the church building was restored, the chancel
and south porch were rebuilt and the height of the chancel was increased.
The tower has a ring
of six bells. Five were cast in 1675 and the sixth was added in 1825.
from 1755 until 1875. In the 1920s road classification the Oxford Adderbury
stretch of the former turnpike was made part of the A423 road
. When the M40 motorway
was completed in the 1990s the old Oxford Banbury ridgeway was reclassified the A4260.
The Bicester Enstone road that forms part of the parish's northern boundary has existed at least since 1255 when a bridge was built at Lower Heyford
to carry it across the River Cherwell. The road was a turnpike from 1793 until 1876. Since the 1920s road classification this road has been the B4030.
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 the parish had two water mills, presumably on the River Cherwell. By 1222 there was only one mill, and this still existed in 1547. Its later history is not clear but it had gone by 1721.
In 1636 Sir Robert Dormer, lord of the manor of Rousham, refused to pay ship money
. During the English Civil War
a Royalist
force plundered the house and village in 1644 and a detachment of Royalist cavalry occupied the house early in 1645.
Most of Rousham parish was farmed under an open field system
until the 18th century. There had been one small enclosure
by 1601 and a second in 1645. The enclosure of the parish's remaining common land
s in 1775 was by agreement between the landowners without recourse to an Act of Parliament
.
Between 1845 and 1850 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was built, passing through the eastern margin of the parish beside the River Chewell. In 1850 it opened Heyford railway station
at Lower Heyford
, 0.5 miles (804.7 m) north of Rousham village.
River Cherwell
The River Cherwell is a river which flows through the Midlands of England. It is a major tributary of the River Thames.The general course of the River Cherwell is north to south and the 'straight-line' distance from its source to the Thames is about...
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 village is about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west
West
West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the left side of a map is west....
of Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
. The parish is bounded by the River Cherwell in the east, the A4260 main road between 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...
and Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
in the west, partly by the B4030 in the north, and by field boundaries with Tackley
Tackley
Tackley is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England. It is about west of Bicester and north of Kidlington. The village consists of two neighbourhoods: Tackley itself, and Nethercott.-Archaeology:...
parish in the south.
Rousham was founded early in 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...
times. Its 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...
is derived from Old English meaning Hrothwulfs ham or farm.
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...
records that in 1086 there were two manors
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...
at Rousham. The larger belonged to 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 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...
and the smaller to his brother in arms 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...
. The D'Oyly manor later 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 Wallingford and in 1279 its overlord was 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,...
. The latest known records of Rousham remaining in the Honour of Wallingford are from the 15th century. The d'Ivry family line died out in 1215 and the d'Ivry manor at Rousham became part of the Honour 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 1237 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...
granted the d'Ivry manor at Rousham to Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
and in 1279 it, like the D'Oyly manor, was held by Richard's son Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall.
Parish church
The earliest known dedication of the Church of England parish churchChurch of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
was to Saint Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society...
, recorded in 1328. A "German's Well" recorded in the parish in 1626 refers to St. Germanus. By 1846 the church had been rededicated 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...
and by 1864 it had been changed again to Saint James. The present dedication of Saint Leonard
Leonard of Noblac
Leonard of Noblac or of Limoges or de Noblet , is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haute-Vienne, in the Limousin of France.-Traditional biography:According to the romance that...
and Saint James dates from 1904.
The church building dates from the 12th century. The easternmost bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
of the arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
for the south arcade was built in about 1180 and the bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
was added early in the 13th century. Between 1296 and 1316 a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
chapel was added to the north side of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
. Slightly later the south aisle was extended the full length of the nave, a south chapel was included and a south porch was added. The arch to the south chapel is 14th century and all the windows of the south aisle are Decorated Gothic. In the 15th century a clerestorey was added to the nave and a rood
Rood
A rood is a cross or crucifix, especially a large one in a church; a large sculpture or sometimes painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.Rood is an archaic word for pole, from Old English rōd "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda...
screen and rood loft were built across the nave and aisle. The chantry chapel was in disrepair by 1520 and demolished shortly after 1530. Later in the 16th century a large window was inserted in the north wall of the nave towards its western end. It and all the other windows in the north wall are Perpendicular Gothic. In 1867-68 the church building was restored, the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and south porch were rebuilt and the height of the chancel was increased.
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. Five were cast in 1675 and the sixth was added in 1825.
Economic and social history
The north-south Oxford Banbury road that forms the parish's western boundary is an ancient ridgeway. It was a turnpikeToll 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...
from 1755 until 1875. In the 1920s road classification the Oxford Adderbury
Adderbury
Adderbury is a large village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire, England. It is about south of Banbury and from Junction 10 of the M40 motorway. The village is divided in two by the Sor Brook. The village consists of two neighbourhoods: West Adderbury and East Adderbury...
stretch of the former turnpike was made part of the A423 road
A423 road
The A423 road is a primary A road in England which leads from central Banbury to the A45 near Coventry. It starts in Banbury town centre as Southam Road and goes through the Southam Road Industrial Estate, then just north of Banbury it crosses over the M40, from there it passes close to several...
. When 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...
was completed in the 1990s the old Oxford Banbury ridgeway was reclassified the A4260.
The Bicester Enstone road that forms part of the parish's northern boundary has existed at least since 1255 when a bridge was built at Lower Heyford
Lower Heyford
Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, beside the River Cherwell about west of Bicester.-Prehistory:Aves ditch is pre-Anglo-Saxon and may have been dug as a boundary ditch...
to carry it across the River Cherwell. The road was a turnpike from 1793 until 1876. Since the 1920s road classification this road has been the B4030.
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 the parish had two water mills, presumably on the River Cherwell. By 1222 there was only one mill, and this still existed in 1547. Its later history is not clear but it had gone by 1721.
In 1636 Sir Robert Dormer, lord of the manor of Rousham, refused to pay ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
. During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
a 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...
force plundered the house and village in 1644 and a detachment of Royalist cavalry occupied the house early in 1645.
Most of Rousham parish was farmed under an open field system
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
until the 18th century. There had been one small 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...
by 1601 and a second in 1645. The enclosure of the parish's remaining common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s in 1775 was by agreement between the landowners without recourse to 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....
.
Between 1845 and 1850 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was built, passing through the eastern margin of the parish beside the River Chewell. In 1850 it opened Heyford railway station
Heyford railway station
Heyford railway station serves the village of Lower Heyford in Oxfordshire, England. The station, and the ten trains each Monday to Saturday serving it, are operated by First Great Western. It is situated on the Cherwell Valley Line, and is ideally located for visiting the Oxford Canal and...
at Lower Heyford
Lower Heyford
Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, beside the River Cherwell about west of Bicester.-Prehistory:Aves ditch is pre-Anglo-Saxon and may have been dug as a boundary ditch...
, 0.5 miles (804.7 m) north of Rousham village.