Great Coxwell
Coordinates: 51°38′20″N 1°36′29″W / 51.639°N 1.608°W
| Great Coxwell | |
 St. Giles' parish church |
|
 Great Coxwell
Great Coxwell shown within Oxfordshire |
|
| Population | 274 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU270935 |
| Civil parish | Great Coxwell |
| District | Vale of White Horse |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Faringdon |
| Postcode district | SN7 |
| Dialling code | 01367 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Wantage |
| Website | Great Coxwell Parish Council |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Great Coxwell is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.
The village stands on the Corallian limestone beds on the northern slope of the Vale of White Horse.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that King Harold held the manor before the Norman Conquest of England. In 1205 the manor was granted to Beaulieu Abbey, which held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1540 the manor was bought by Thomas Morris, whose descendants sold it in 1638 to the Pratt family.
[edit] Church
The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles is on a ridge at the south end of the village.[2] Parts of the church date date from about 1200.[3] The west tower was added in the 15th century.[4] The tower has a ring of five bells.[4] Three were cast in 1738: two including the tenor bell by Henry Bagley of Chacombe.[4] Another was cast by James Wells of Aldbourne, Wiltshire in 1824, and the tenor bell was cast by Mears and Stainbank in 1911.[4] The bells are currently unringable.[5]
The churchyard is now managed as a wildlife area. It contains over 100 species of wildflower, including the rare wild clary (Salvia verbenaca).[6]
[edit] Great Coxwell Barn
On the northern edge of the village is a large 14th century tithe barn, built for Beaulieu Abbey to store the crop of its monastic grange. The barn is now in the care of the National Trust.
[edit] Badbury Hill
Badbury Hill is in the north of the parish. There is an Iron Age hill fort on its summit, and there is ancient woodland on its slopes. The hill is in the care of the National Trust.
[edit] References
- ^ "Area selected: Vale of White Horse (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790499. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ^ "St Giles, Great Coxwell". Royal Berkshire History. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/great_coxwell.html.
- ^ Pevsner 1966, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d Page & Ditchfield 1924, pp. 487–489.
- ^ Vale of the White Horse Branch: Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers: Branch Towers
- ^ "St Giles Church, Great Coxwell". Faringdon on line. http://www.faringdon.org/hystgilesch.htm.
[edit] Sources
- Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 487–489. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62755.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 147–148.
[edit] External links
Media related to Great Coxwell at Wikimedia Commons
