Swerford is a village and civil parish on the River Swere in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Chipping Norton. Swerford has two main neighbourhoods: Church End and East End. The area between them contains very few houses and is called Between Towns.

Manor

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...

 records that in 1086 Swerford was part of the royal 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 Hook Norton

Hook Norton

Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is northeast of Chipping Norton.-Toponym and early history:...

, which was held by 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...

. The village has a motte-and-bailey

Motte-and-bailey

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 castle

Swerford Castle

Swerford Castle was a medieval castle in the village of Swerford, Oxfordshire, England.-History:Swerford Castle was built in a motte and bailey design in the 12th century. It was positioned so as to overlook the local ford of the River Swere and the village of Swerford...

 which is believed to have been built early in the 12th century during the civil war between 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...

 and King Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

.

In 1783 Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry KG KT FRSE was a Scottish nobleman and long-time friend of the notable Sir Walter Scott...

 commissioned the building of the country house

English country house

The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...

 of Swerford Park as a hunting lodge. In 1820 General Sir R. Bolton bought the house. Bolton commissioned the artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 and architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Joseph Gandy, who remodelled the house between 1824 and 1829 in the style of Sir John Soane

John Soane

Sir John Soane, RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources...

.

Churches

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 believed to have been founded by 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...

 early in the 13th century. The earliest part of St. Mary's present building is the tower and spire

Steeple (architecture)

A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...

, which were built around 1300. The Decorated Gothic 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...

 may have been built between 1250 and 1350. Perpendicular Gothic additions were made early in the 15th century: 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 the clerestorey of the nave. In 1846 the Gothic Revival architect

Gothic Revival architecture

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

 H.J. Underwood

Henry Jones Underwood

Henry Jones Underwood was an English architect who spent most of his career in Oxford. He was the brother of the architects Charles Underwood and George Allen Underwood ....

 added the north aisle. The church 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...

 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. St. Mary's is now part of the Benefice of Hook Norton

Hook Norton

Hook Norton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England. It is northeast of Chipping Norton.-Toponym and early history:...

 with Great Rollright

Great Rollright

Great Rollright is a village in the civil parish of Rollright, about north of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.The Mediaeval Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew has features dating from the Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The church tower has a ring of six...

, Swerford and Wigginton

Wigginton, Oxfordshire

Wigginton is a village and civil parish about southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire.Remains of a large Roman villa have been found in the village about southwest of the parish church....

.

The 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...

age was built in the 18th century.

A Methodist

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...

 chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 was opened in Swerford in 1938. It was closed in 1992 and is now a private house.

Social and economic history

Old Clock Cottage was built in the 18th century.

By 1881 a railway tunnel 418 yards (382.2 m) long had been built through South Hill just west of Swerford Park for the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway

Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway

The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway is a former railway in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, England.-Origins and development:...

. The railway company usually called it Hook Norton Tunnel but sometimes it is called Swerford Park Tunnel. The line's nearest railway station to Swerford was about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away at .

British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways closed Hook Norton station in 1951 and closed the Banbury and Cheltenham railway completely in 1964. The tunnel is now bricked up at both ends to prevent access, both for people's safety and to protect any bats that may roost inside. (See Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom and was implemented to comply with the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds...

)

Amenities

Swerford has a village hall

Village hall

In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...

. The hall hosts regular village activities including a monthly market and monthly meetings of Swerford and Wigginton

Wigginton, Oxfordshire

Wigginton is a village and civil parish about southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire.Remains of a large Roman villa have been found in the village about southwest of the parish church....

 Women's Institute.

Swerford's former 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...

, the Masons Arms, is now a restaurant that has been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand.