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Bampton, Oxfordshire

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For the town of the same name in Devon see Bampton
Bampton
  • Bampton-in-the-Bushes
St Mary the Virgin parish church
Population2,505 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP315031
Civil parish
  • Bampton
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBampton
Postcode districtOX18
Dialling code01993
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteBampton Oxfordshire
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
Bampton Post Office
Tadpole Bridge carries a road between Bampton to the north and Buckland to the south

Bampton, also called Bampton-in-the-Bush, is a village and civil parish in the Thames Valley about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southwest of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Weald.

Bampton is sometimes described as a town, perhaps because it was a market town until the 19th century.[2] It has both a Town Hall and a Village Hall.

The core of Bampton is sited on gravel terraces composed of Summertown-Radley or Flood Plain Terrace deposits.[3]

History

The origins of Bampton go back to the Iron Age and Roman times. The earliest settlement was probably somewhat to the east of the centre of Bampton today, the triangular space known as Market Square.

Bampton was an important place in Saxon and medieval times.[4]

US troops were billeted in Bampton at various times during the Second World War.

Bampton was used for exterior shots of the fictional village of Downton, North Yorkshire in ITV's period drama TV series Downton Abbey.[5]

Parish church

St Mary's, Bampton, in 1931, with its tall spire
Postcard photo of St Mary's in 1931

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin dates from the 12th century. It was built on the site of a late Anglo-Saxon Minster, and the tower of that building survives within the present church. It has a 13th-century spire and carved stone reredos of Christ and the apostles from around 1400.

William the Conqueror gave the original church to Leofric, Bishop of Exeter. The diocese of Exeter was involved with St Mary's for many years afterwards. Throughout its history the church has been rebuilt and extended many times, most recently in 1870 when the roof took its present form.[6][7][8]

The ancient parish was one of the largest in Oxfordshire[4] and included the townships of Weald, Lew, Aston, Cote, Shifford, Chimney and Lower Haddon.[4] In 1857 the parish was split into the three ecclesiastical parishes of Bampton Proper, Bampton Lew and Bampton Aston, all now part of the united benefice of Bampton with Clanfield.[4] In 1866 the parish was split into five civil parishes: Bampton, Lew, Aston and Cote, Shifford and Chimney.[4]

St. Mary's Rectory has a date-stone indicating that it was built in 1546.[9] It was altered in 1799 by the builder and architect Daniel Harris.[9]

The church features in the television series 'Downton Abbey' along with Bampton's main street.[10]

The village is the setting for the fictional crime novels The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, set c 1366, by Mel Starr

Transport

From 1861 until 1961 the village was served by Brize Norton and Bampton railway station, two miles to the north.

Bus services are provided by RH Buses on routes 18 (Bampton-Oxford) and 19 (Carterton-Bampton-Witney).[11]

Amenities

Pumpkin club

Three Bampton residents Arnold Woodley, Jack Horn and Reg Absolom formed the Bampton Pumpkin club in March 1969. Every October there is a Pumpkin Club weigh-in, where all contestants' pumpkins are weighed, with the winner being awarded a prize. The first ever winner of the club weigh-in was Joe Buckingham with a gourd weighing 51.5 pounds (23.4 kg). After the weigh-in the pumpkins, along with flowers, fruit and vegetables, are auctioned. The money raised is given to local old age pensioners.

Youth Centre

Bampton Youth Centre was founded in 1984 to provide facilities for children and teenagers. It is in the Victorian former primary school building in Church View.

Skate Park

Bampton Skatepark was built for the village's skateboarders and BMX riders.

Gardening Club

Bampton's gardening club holds two flower shows each year. The Summer Show is held at the end of June or early July, and the Autumn Show is held in September. The first ever shows were held in October 1972.

Society for the protection of Bampton

The Society for the protection of Bampton (SPB) is a society set up in 1993 to maintain or improve the quality of life for people living in Bampton. The society bought a field in Bampton for use by the village; the field used to be owned by Oxfordshire County Council. The society has around 450 members.

Bampton Environmental Watch group

The Bampton Environmental Watch Group (BEWG) is a group set up in 1989, to look after the Bampton environment; it currently has around 100 members.

Bampton Town Football Club

Bampton Town Football Club are affiliated to the Oxfordshire Football Association. Their home ground is located at Buckland Road, Bampton. The club runs 2 senior teams (first and reserve) who play in the North Berks Football League, 1 youth team (under 16 age group) who play in the OFA Youth Football League, 7 junior teams (under 8s to under 14s) who play in the Witney and District Youth League and 1 veteran team (over 35 years old). The club's main kit colours are orange shirts and black shorts.[12]

SPAJER

'Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing' (SPAJERS) organises a race around the village on the late May Bank Holiday each year, celebrating the 14 pubs that used to be open. Runners, dressed in night-gowns, have to be in pairs, with one pushing another in a trolley, stopping at the houses that used to be pubs (and of course the current open pubs), and drinking a measure of beer before running to the next.

The Bampton Beam

The local magazine The Bampton Beam is distributed freely to all residences and businesses in Bampton. It contains information on events in the Bampton area.

Bampton Classical Opera

Bampton is the home of Bampton Classical Opera which performs both in Bampton and elsewhere, including London. In Bampton the venue is the garden of the Deanery, a private house near St Mary's church. A curved yew hedge encloses the opera stage, providing excellent natural acoustics.

Bampton Morris

Bampton has a tradition of morris dancing which may be 600 years old. Documentary and circumstantial evidence show that morris dancing in Bampton goes back at least to the 1790s. Morris dancing used to be performed in Bampton on Whit Monday but the date has recently changed to the late May Bank Holiday.[13]

Bampton & District Aunt Sally

Aunt Sally is a traditional throwing game, played predominantly in pubs in Oxfordshire. The Bampton & District Aunt Sally Association was formed in 1971. In the Bampton league, games are played on Thursday evenings between teams of 6 players (unlike other leagues in Oxfordshire who field teams of 8).[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Area selected: West Oxfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Bampton and Weald Economic history". British History Online. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Bampton". British History Online. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e Crossley & Currie, 1996, pages 6–62
  5. ^ Ffrench, Andrew (23 April 2010). "Village is the star of the show". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Bampton and Weald Churches". British History Online. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  7. ^ "The History of St Marys (sic)". St Mary's Bampton. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Bampton Church, Bampton". Sacred Destinations. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  9. ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 432
  10. ^ Downton abbey
  11. ^ "Your Local Bus Company Connecting Communities Across Oxfordshire". Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Bampton Town Football Club". Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Bampton Traditional Morris Men". Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  14. ^ "Bampton & District Aunt Sally Association". Retrieved 18 May 2011.

Sources and further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bampton, Oxfordshire.


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